Imagine, waking up one morning and going about your daily routine: you have breakfast and you are about to leave for school, but you can’t remember where you left your keys. Common enough, we have all done that at some point or another. Your mom hands you your keys and off you go to school. Life for the next few weeks are normal until one day, while at school you have to call a sibling or parent, but you strangely forgotten his or her number; a number you have called an immeasurable amount of times. You work hard and go to school so it’s understandable that you have memory lapses now and then. Like the key incident, you laugh it off. Over the next few months things get worse. You begin forgetting peoples’ names even though you have seen them
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Motive: According to the Alzheimer’s Association, every 67 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease. The association also concludes that 1 in 3 senior citizens die with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of memory loss. So let’s put this into perspective, there are about 35 of us here today, if 1 of 3 people are diagnosed and pass away with Alzheimer’s disease that would be 12 of our classmates. That is almost a third of the class. Being aware of the signs and the risks of Alzheimer’s disease could help you or the people you care about be aware and prepared to cope with this disease (Alzheimer’s Association, …show more content…
A deterministic gene can also cause Alzheimer’s, ensuring that anyone who inherits the deterministic gene will develop the disease. Three proteins, “amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin-1 (PS-1), and presenilin-2(PS-2)” are found in deterministic genes. (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). When Alzheimer’s disease is caused by these changes, it is known as Familial Alzheimer’s disease. These symptoms typically being in your 30s and 40s but certainly before the age of 60 (National Institute of Aging, 1974).
Now that we have talked about the genetic and familial ties that could lead to the disease, let’s focus on to the reason people are unaware.
2. One reason people are unaware of the disease is the misinformation and lack of knowledge about genes in relation to Alzheimer’s.
a. Being aware of the disease is important, at a young age, because it helps identify certain signs that can be potential indicators of the disease. Doctor Dennis Selkoe, specializes in memory disorders, at the Center of Neurological Diseases at Harvard Medical School. Selkoe stresses the importance of doing a medical evaluation between the ages of 30 to 40.The earlier the disease is diagnosed, the more likely you are able to prolong, care for, and manage the disease. For example, it may be helpful to consider how a screening for a positive test can affect your eligibility for long-term care or disabilities in the future (Cure Alzheimer’s Fund,
Motive: According to the Alzheimer’s Association, every 67 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease. The association also concludes that 1 in 3 senior citizens die with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of memory loss. So let’s put this into perspective, there are about 35 of us here today, if 1 of 3 people are diagnosed and pass away with Alzheimer’s disease that would be 12 of our classmates. That is almost a third of the class. Being aware of the signs and the risks of Alzheimer’s disease could help you or the people you care about be aware and prepared to cope with this disease (Alzheimer’s Association, …show more content…
A deterministic gene can also cause Alzheimer’s, ensuring that anyone who inherits the deterministic gene will develop the disease. Three proteins, “amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin-1 (PS-1), and presenilin-2(PS-2)” are found in deterministic genes. (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). When Alzheimer’s disease is caused by these changes, it is known as Familial Alzheimer’s disease. These symptoms typically being in your 30s and 40s but certainly before the age of 60 (National Institute of Aging, 1974).
Now that we have talked about the genetic and familial ties that could lead to the disease, let’s focus on to the reason people are unaware.
2. One reason people are unaware of the disease is the misinformation and lack of knowledge about genes in relation to Alzheimer’s.
a. Being aware of the disease is important, at a young age, because it helps identify certain signs that can be potential indicators of the disease. Doctor Dennis Selkoe, specializes in memory disorders, at the Center of Neurological Diseases at Harvard Medical School. Selkoe stresses the importance of doing a medical evaluation between the ages of 30 to 40.The earlier the disease is diagnosed, the more likely you are able to prolong, care for, and manage the disease. For example, it may be helpful to consider how a screening for a positive test can affect your eligibility for long-term care or disabilities in the future (Cure Alzheimer’s Fund,