Alzheimer’s Disease
Many people seem to believe that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is not a fatal disease. Which in fact it is, it destroys brain cells and causes memory loss. This may not be physically fatal, but it is mentally. It slowly takes away a person's identity, and ability to connect with others emotionally.
Memory loss is seen to be a natural process in life. Just like any other organ, the brain deteriorates over time lessening it ability to function. But if there is serious memory loss, like forgetting your name or where you are from can be a sign that your brain is failing. “The symptoms of Alzheimer's include disorientation, mood and behavior changes; deepening confusion about events, time and place; unfounded suspicions about family, …show more content…
The key to a successful diagnosis is finding the right doctor and to go for a prognosis early. Once a patient has been diagnosed they need to find several specialists to go for medical help.
AD usually has three slow stages it goes through. The stages are mild to moderate to severe. After diagnosis, people typically only live four to eight years, but up to 20 depending on the situation. The mild stage starts with forgetting names, then the moderate stage comes with feeling withdrawn from family, and finally it’s the severe stage which is lose awareness of their surroundings.
When an individual is diagnosed with Alzheimer's their brain neurons not only die, but their cortex and hippocampus actually shrinks in size causing the memory loss. To get deeper and go into cell growth and decay, abnormal clusters of protein fragments, build up between nerve cells known as plaques. Once the plaques start to build up it kills more cells, as more cells die more of the brain dies. Once in the severe stage the cortex is almost all
Many people seem to believe that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is not a fatal disease. Which in fact it is, it destroys brain cells and causes memory loss. This may not be physically fatal, but it is mentally. It slowly takes away a person's identity, and ability to connect with others emotionally.
Memory loss is seen to be a natural process in life. Just like any other organ, the brain deteriorates over time lessening it ability to function. But if there is serious memory loss, like forgetting your name or where you are from can be a sign that your brain is failing. “The symptoms of Alzheimer's include disorientation, mood and behavior changes; deepening confusion about events, time and place; unfounded suspicions about family, …show more content…
The key to a successful diagnosis is finding the right doctor and to go for a prognosis early. Once a patient has been diagnosed they need to find several specialists to go for medical help.
AD usually has three slow stages it goes through. The stages are mild to moderate to severe. After diagnosis, people typically only live four to eight years, but up to 20 depending on the situation. The mild stage starts with forgetting names, then the moderate stage comes with feeling withdrawn from family, and finally it’s the severe stage which is lose awareness of their surroundings.
When an individual is diagnosed with Alzheimer's their brain neurons not only die, but their cortex and hippocampus actually shrinks in size causing the memory loss. To get deeper and go into cell growth and decay, abnormal clusters of protein fragments, build up between nerve cells known as plaques. Once the plaques start to build up it kills more cells, as more cells die more of the brain dies. Once in the severe stage the cortex is almost all