Imagine knowing someone for years, and suddenly the person who was once there becomes someone completely different. This is the new reality for the family and friends of a person who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This means that a person slowly becomes more and more of a stranger to the people around them in their everyday life. Alzheimer’s not only has a physical and mental effect on the person diagnosed, but also an effect on the family members of the person who was diagnosed.
Patients with Alzheimer’s begin to lose cognitive skills and having control over their bodily functions as this disease progresses. “… A lot of the patients I work with on a daily basis try to use silverware, but have a hard time balancing the food on it because …show more content…
Most people who are affected with Alzheimer’s are elderly, about 70 years old, but this disease increases the amount of muscle stiffness and soreness that they endure. Muscle stiffness and soreness also affects how much movement and activity that particular person is able to do in a given day (Mayo Clinic, 2017). Of course there are still people who are able to walk, but they may need the assistance of a cane, walker, or caregiver. There are also certain patients who are still completely self mobile without the use of a cane or walker, but this depends on how far along the Alzheimer’s is for that particular patient. With the progression of Alzheimer’s, the muscle soreness begins to slow them down to a point where they are not even able to walk with assistance, thus being deemed immobile and put into a wheelchair (Lee, …show more content…
The loss of these cells happens when a chemical neurotransmitter called acetylcholine is not produced like it should be (Hoyle, 2017). The brain deterioration first occurs in the hippocampus, which is where memories are formed and stored. By the later stages of Alzheimer’s, the damage occurs all throughout the brain. This damage makes the brain tissue begin to shrink (Alzheimer’s Disease, 2016). The damage in the brain occurs because signals within aren’t being transmitted correctly, and areas start to die off. These lost signals in the brain can also happen in people who do not have Alzheimer’s (Hoyle, 2017). Most of the time, the damage that happens to the brain occurs ten years prior to the person being diagnosed. This person may show no signs or symptoms, while the brain is undergoing major toxic changes. The person will begin to lose connections with other neurons in the brain, causing them to die off, thus symptoms begin to appear in a person (Alzheimer’s Disease,
Patients with Alzheimer’s begin to lose cognitive skills and having control over their bodily functions as this disease progresses. “… A lot of the patients I work with on a daily basis try to use silverware, but have a hard time balancing the food on it because …show more content…
Most people who are affected with Alzheimer’s are elderly, about 70 years old, but this disease increases the amount of muscle stiffness and soreness that they endure. Muscle stiffness and soreness also affects how much movement and activity that particular person is able to do in a given day (Mayo Clinic, 2017). Of course there are still people who are able to walk, but they may need the assistance of a cane, walker, or caregiver. There are also certain patients who are still completely self mobile without the use of a cane or walker, but this depends on how far along the Alzheimer’s is for that particular patient. With the progression of Alzheimer’s, the muscle soreness begins to slow them down to a point where they are not even able to walk with assistance, thus being deemed immobile and put into a wheelchair (Lee, …show more content…
The loss of these cells happens when a chemical neurotransmitter called acetylcholine is not produced like it should be (Hoyle, 2017). The brain deterioration first occurs in the hippocampus, which is where memories are formed and stored. By the later stages of Alzheimer’s, the damage occurs all throughout the brain. This damage makes the brain tissue begin to shrink (Alzheimer’s Disease, 2016). The damage in the brain occurs because signals within aren’t being transmitted correctly, and areas start to die off. These lost signals in the brain can also happen in people who do not have Alzheimer’s (Hoyle, 2017). Most of the time, the damage that happens to the brain occurs ten years prior to the person being diagnosed. This person may show no signs or symptoms, while the brain is undergoing major toxic changes. The person will begin to lose connections with other neurons in the brain, causing them to die off, thus symptoms begin to appear in a person (Alzheimer’s Disease,