Alzheimer’s Disease “Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that occurs gradually and results in memory loss, unusual behavior, personality changes, and a decline in thinking abilities that cannot be reversed.” (1) About 7 years ago when I was 8 years old my mom and my uncle started noticing my grandma forget things. They took her to the doctors and they discovered she had dementia. Dementia is very similar to Alzheimer’s disease. The difference is that Dementia is not a disease, it is a group of symptoms that affect mental tasks like memory and reasoning. Although my grandma does have Dementia, it can progress and become Alzheimer’s eventually. Every year my grandma’s Dementia gets worse. After 7 years of having Dementia she
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It is not curable and there is no way to unwind it. When someone gets Alzheimer’s, it is as if they turn into a vegetable. The disease advances in the form of stages, but it is slow and steady. Beginning with early symptoms of absentmindedness to symptoms of harsh dementia and the attention span of the individual shortens. Sooner or later, the individual facing this disease loses the ability to care for him or herself. In the passage “Decade of the Brain: Alzheimer’s Disease” it says, “ Eventually they may wander, be unable to engage in conversation, seem inattentive and erratic in mood, appear uncooperative, lose bladder and bowel control, and, in extreme cases, become totally incapable of caring for themselves.” In the final stage, the individual becomes bedridden and eventually is very likely to die from an illness they develop. “The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increases with age, but Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia symptoms are not part of normal aging.” (1) In some cases, it may be inherited but the chances of developing it because a close relative has had Alzheimer’s is not high. To continue, during most of the development of this disease the individual can still keep the ability to love and beloved. They can still share relationships and be involved with purposeful activities with friends and family. Moving on, “depression, severe uneasiness and paranoia or delusions may accompany or result from the disease, but they can often be alleviated by appropriate treatments.”
It is not curable and there is no way to unwind it. When someone gets Alzheimer’s, it is as if they turn into a vegetable. The disease advances in the form of stages, but it is slow and steady. Beginning with early symptoms of absentmindedness to symptoms of harsh dementia and the attention span of the individual shortens. Sooner or later, the individual facing this disease loses the ability to care for him or herself. In the passage “Decade of the Brain: Alzheimer’s Disease” it says, “ Eventually they may wander, be unable to engage in conversation, seem inattentive and erratic in mood, appear uncooperative, lose bladder and bowel control, and, in extreme cases, become totally incapable of caring for themselves.” In the final stage, the individual becomes bedridden and eventually is very likely to die from an illness they develop. “The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increases with age, but Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia symptoms are not part of normal aging.” (1) In some cases, it may be inherited but the chances of developing it because a close relative has had Alzheimer’s is not high. To continue, during most of the development of this disease the individual can still keep the ability to love and beloved. They can still share relationships and be involved with purposeful activities with friends and family. Moving on, “depression, severe uneasiness and paranoia or delusions may accompany or result from the disease, but they can often be alleviated by appropriate treatments.”