Alzheimer S Essays

Submitted By vivianchen912
Words: 1334
Pages: 6
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Rough Draft
Cherry Jiang
Public Speaking/Professor Gail
10/11/2013

The myth of Alzheimer's Disease There are some numbers: in the U.S, 5.3 million people have Alzheimer's disease; every 68 seconds someone develop Alzheimer's; the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. is Alzheimer's; one in eight people age 65 and older now has Alzheimer's; in 2013, an estimated 450,000 people in the U.S. will die with Alzheimer's. Today, I would like to inform you some information about this mysterious disease-Alzheimer's. I am qualified to speak on this topic, because to be nurse aid certified, I took some classes specially for taking care of people with Alzheimer's, I did lots of research after that. I am volunteering in a impaired memory facility now, where 95% of the residents are having Alzheimer's or dementia. Increasing age is the greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer's, and it is not just a disease of old age. Up to 5% of people with the disease have early onset, they live average of 8 years after their symptoms become noticeable to others. No one can be complishment and say, "It will never happen to me." I will start with the official definition and the risk factors found for Alzheimer's, to the different stages, and continued with alternative treatment , then I will close on possible prevention. Definition and its risk factors. The Alzheimer's Association defines Alzheimer's disease as a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys A person's memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate, and carry out daily activities. It is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer's is always being talked together with dementia. When you search online, or look up the books, those two names will pump out together. Actually, Alzheimer's and dementia is like flu and fever. Flu can cause fever, but there are other factors, such as bacterial infection still can cause fever. Some cause of a fever can be treated. If you have a fever caused by bacterial infection, take antibiotic may eliminate the infection, and therefore eliminate the fever. If you have the flu, you generally are told that you have a viral infection, and the virus will just have to work its course, and so only the symptoms of the flu are treated. I will talk more when we are in the treatment section. So, what are the risk factors for this disease? Generally speaking, there are four main factors. First, the age. Advancing age is known as the greatest risk factor. The chance to develop Alzheimer's disease doubles every 5 years after age 65. Roughly 50% of those 85 and older have it. The second is family history. It is found that those who have a parent, brother, sister, or child with Alzheimer's will be in higher risk, the chance gets bigger with more involved family members. It could be genetic, or due to family environment, such as lifestyle, and the physical living circumstance or both. Third, head trauma, especially involves loss consciousness. That's what my dad experienced. My dad had a very serious head injury when he was young. Because of the medical condition at that time, he didn't go to the hospital to do further check. After a period of coma, he woke up, and continued to work with heavy headache. My dad has some memory problem now, even he is only 58. We took him to do some physical exam, psychiatric assessment, and CT scan, he is under diagnosis. The fourth cause will be the heart or blood vessel damage, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high cholesterol. After introducing the general idea and the relative risk factor of Alzheimer's disease, let's take a look at its three main stages during the course of the disease. Stage one-mild decline. At the very beginning, they may appear normal with very subtle deterioration. As the memory changes, they may feel as if they are having memory lapses, such as forgetting the location of object. They may get lost even in familiar surroundings. Paying bills,
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