Alzheimer's Disease Research Paper

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurological disorder that affects about three million Americans, making it the most prominent form of dementia. Nearly half of those affected are over the age of eighty-five, although it can occur at a younger age. Many people have older relatives who are affected, making this disorder a very familiar one, although not many are aware of the actual science behind AD. AD was first discovered by a psychiatrist named Alois Alzheimer in the early 20th century. In 1901, a husband brought his wife, 51-year-old Auguste Deter, into the asylum where Alzheimer was working. His reason for doing so was because he had noticed that over the course of a few months, his wife had undergone many changes. The husband had observed …show more content…
Over the course of Auguste’s stay at the asylum, Alzheimer studied her carefully. He noticed that her memory was progressively getting worse and worse. She was always disoriented and confused and had trouble answering simple questions like, “What year is it” or “Where are you”. Her linguistic skills, such as writing, reading and speaking, were all impaired in one way or another. All of these conditions, Alzheimer noted, progressively got worse and worse as the duration of her stay at the asylum continued. Soon, Auguste became very aggressive and her speech became completely impaired to the point that she could not communicate or form logical senses, resorting to nothing but yelps and other noises. Her emotional state deteriorated into complete apathy, having no feelings towards anything whatsoever. In 1905, just four years after her admittance to the asylum, Auguste passed away. After her death, Alzheimer preformed an autopsy and found many peculiarities in the late woman’s brain. For one, he noted that there was a large amount of dead and dying cells in the cerebrum. Also present were many thick tangles in the neurons of the brain as well as plaques located …show more content…
This is because so many of the symptoms of AD are similar to those seen in other dementias. The distinct symptoms of AD that separate it from other dementias are the brain plaques, degradation of the cerebrum, and neurofibrillary tangles. These can only be confirmed by process of autopsy or biopsy. Other than this, there are many lab tests that can be used to diagnose someone with probable or possible AD. This is done by identifying whether the symptoms present are due to AD or a different neurological disorder. Firstly, if the symptoms of memory loss, seizures, or problems walking appear suddenly, it is most likely not AD. Also if visual, sensory, or coordination impairments are present from the beginning, it is probably not AD. If the symptoms were brought on by a stroke it is likely to be vascular dementia and not AD. Family history may be utilized to see if a person has a history of AD in their family or not. Also, if someone has experienced an incident that resulted in severe brain trauma, they could be at a higher risk for AD. AD may cause changes in the proteins in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) so a spinal tap may be done to see if the CSF is normal or if it has the characteristic changes exhibited in AD victims. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that detects brain wave patterns that may be used to help identify AD. Someone suffering from AD will usually exhibit

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