A Comprehensive Research Analysis of Alzheimer’s Disease
Zachary Thomas
Abnormal Psychology (Psy 341-1004)
Dr. Robert Kutner
November 20, 2014
To most people, just the thought of the aging process causes much distress and worry. Those feelings of dread will be reinforced, when researching a particular disease. This disease causes the individual to lose their mind. "Described as a clinicopathological state literally meaning the ‘loss of the ability to think. (Shan, 2012)" It is called Alzheimer's disease (AD). It was described first by Alois Alzheimer in 1907. Most people use AD synonymously with dementia, but dementia was one of the DSM-IV's broad diagnostic categories. It is now called Major Neurocognitive disorder. To use dementia …show more content…
For example, President Ronald Regan was diagnosed with AD in 1994 (Halgin and Whitebourne, 2005). I have been exposed to it because my grandfather on my father's side got diagnosed with Alzheimer's four years before his passing. He was 90 when he was formally diagnosed with AD, but was diagnosed with dementia when he was around 85. I never got to know him in his prime, but he was able to tell me stories before he was too far into the disease. I also heard stories from my father and grandmother. It is alarming to witness a man that was an air force navigator in 2 wars, a new york mobster, a bootlegger, and a technician on some of the first computers ever built have his mind slowly stripped away from him. I say alarming, because it must be a very emotionally painful experience, especially when you have had so many experiences in your life, to have all those experiences stripped from you. He was a very harsh, and angry man in his youth, and continued to be offensive and difficult into his late 70's. The strange thing in his case was that instead of his condition making him delusional, obsessive, and more difficult to handle, he became more passive, and less obsessive. My theory is that he was burdened by some of the things he did in the air force and mafia all those years ago, and as the Alzheimer's progressed the bad memories started to fade. If my theory is correct, Alzheimer's assisted …show more content…
A., Jeppson, J. D., & Soriano, S. (2014). Moving beyond anti-amyloid therapy for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. BMC Neurology,14(1), 2-11. doi:10.1186/s12883-014-0169-0
Clodomiro, A., Gareri, P., Puccio, G., Frangipane, F., Lacava, R., Castagna, A., & ... Bruni, A. (2013). Somatic comorbidities and Alzheimer's disease treatment.Neurological Sciences, 34(9), 1581-1589. doi:10.1007/s10072-013-1290-3
Halgin, R., & Whitbourne, S. (2005). Aging related cognitive disorders. InAbnormal psychology: Clinical perspectives on psychological disorders(Updated, 4th ed., p. 413). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Hot, P., Rauchs, G., Bertran, F., Denise, P., Desgranges, B., Clochon, P., & Eustache, F. (2011). Changes in sleep theta rhythm are related to episodic memory impairment in early Alzheimer's disease. Biological Psychology, 87(3), 334-339. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.04.002
Lancioni, G. E., Perilli, V., Singh, N. N., O'Reilly, M. F., & Cassano, G. (2011). A man with severe Alzheimer's disease stops wandering during a picture colouring activity.Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 14(4), 242-246. doi:10.3109/17518423.2011.575439
Marine, N., & Boriana, A. (2014). Olfactory markers of depression and Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 45262-270.
Zachary Thomas
Abnormal Psychology (Psy 341-1004)
Dr. Robert Kutner
November 20, 2014
To most people, just the thought of the aging process causes much distress and worry. Those feelings of dread will be reinforced, when researching a particular disease. This disease causes the individual to lose their mind. "Described as a clinicopathological state literally meaning the ‘loss of the ability to think. (Shan, 2012)" It is called Alzheimer's disease (AD). It was described first by Alois Alzheimer in 1907. Most people use AD synonymously with dementia, but dementia was one of the DSM-IV's broad diagnostic categories. It is now called Major Neurocognitive disorder. To use dementia …show more content…
For example, President Ronald Regan was diagnosed with AD in 1994 (Halgin and Whitebourne, 2005). I have been exposed to it because my grandfather on my father's side got diagnosed with Alzheimer's four years before his passing. He was 90 when he was formally diagnosed with AD, but was diagnosed with dementia when he was around 85. I never got to know him in his prime, but he was able to tell me stories before he was too far into the disease. I also heard stories from my father and grandmother. It is alarming to witness a man that was an air force navigator in 2 wars, a new york mobster, a bootlegger, and a technician on some of the first computers ever built have his mind slowly stripped away from him. I say alarming, because it must be a very emotionally painful experience, especially when you have had so many experiences in your life, to have all those experiences stripped from you. He was a very harsh, and angry man in his youth, and continued to be offensive and difficult into his late 70's. The strange thing in his case was that instead of his condition making him delusional, obsessive, and more difficult to handle, he became more passive, and less obsessive. My theory is that he was burdened by some of the things he did in the air force and mafia all those years ago, and as the Alzheimer's progressed the bad memories started to fade. If my theory is correct, Alzheimer's assisted …show more content…
A., Jeppson, J. D., & Soriano, S. (2014). Moving beyond anti-amyloid therapy for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. BMC Neurology,14(1), 2-11. doi:10.1186/s12883-014-0169-0
Clodomiro, A., Gareri, P., Puccio, G., Frangipane, F., Lacava, R., Castagna, A., & ... Bruni, A. (2013). Somatic comorbidities and Alzheimer's disease treatment.Neurological Sciences, 34(9), 1581-1589. doi:10.1007/s10072-013-1290-3
Halgin, R., & Whitbourne, S. (2005). Aging related cognitive disorders. InAbnormal psychology: Clinical perspectives on psychological disorders(Updated, 4th ed., p. 413). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Hot, P., Rauchs, G., Bertran, F., Denise, P., Desgranges, B., Clochon, P., & Eustache, F. (2011). Changes in sleep theta rhythm are related to episodic memory impairment in early Alzheimer's disease. Biological Psychology, 87(3), 334-339. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.04.002
Lancioni, G. E., Perilli, V., Singh, N. N., O'Reilly, M. F., & Cassano, G. (2011). A man with severe Alzheimer's disease stops wandering during a picture colouring activity.Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 14(4), 242-246. doi:10.3109/17518423.2011.575439
Marine, N., & Boriana, A. (2014). Olfactory markers of depression and Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 45262-270.