Remembering Alzheimer's Disease

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Imagine your parents are in their sixties now and are beginning to forget certain things with age. Growing up your parents have been your support system through everything. From many amazing birthdays, graduation, and even the birth of your children. Although, you find your mom Lucy forgetting things that should not be forgotten, like a close family friend’s name. After a few months of this behavior, the forgetfulness has escalated from forgetting to pay the light bill, to forgetting to wish you a happy thirty-first birthday. Being the concerned daughter you are, you take the initiative to take your mom to the doctor to ensure nothing serious is going on. The doctors ask your mother various questions involving smoking, drinking and other factors …show more content…
The genes in which causes brain cells to die are present at birth, yet begin working approximately a decade before anything can be detected in the brain by certain scans or tests. This sort of disease is rapid and once a patient is diagnosed, it only gets worse from that point on. The cerebral cortex is responsible for thinking, planning, and remembering information. For Alzheimer’s patients, the cortex shrivels up causing the loss or gain of any information. The shrinkage of the Hippocampus is directly responsible for the inability to store new memories. Researchers have conducted various tests to visualize the relationship between the size of the hippocampus and verbal memory. The results indicate “measure of nonverbal memory was most closely related to hippocampal size among the larger sample” (biomedcentral,1). This can indicate a decline in facial expressions and body language. Normal memory loss compared to dementia is commonly difficult to differentiate. Aging can be both humble yet surprising. Hair begins to fade, skin wrinkles, muscle mass wanes, and body temperatures chill (helpguide, 1). Aging is known to have gradual memory loss rather than progressive memory loss. Progressive memory loss can be a sign of dementia in middle aged individuals. Alzheimer’s patients typically do not complain about memory loss as they are blindsided by the forgetfulness in the first place It is very common to forget a date among all ages. Although, it is common for Alzheimer’s patients to not only forget a date but seasons, months or even years. Normal memory loss with age can commonly be misdiagnosed. This is because “there are at least five different kinds of important lesions which can produce a picture that looks like Alzheimer’s” (health,1). Considering approximately half of Alzheimer 's patients

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