Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease causes progressive deterioration of the brain and usually affects people older than 60. The progression of Alzheimer's is slow but relentless. Symptoms include forgetfulness and loss of memory. Eventually, the disease destroys all memory, particularly for recent events. For example, a patient may retain the ability for vivid recall of childhood memories yet lack the capacity to remember events of the previous hour. As the disease progresses, the patient is overcome by confusion and disorientation. All higher thought processes degenerate, and over time the disease affects reasoning ability, speech, concentration, and handwriting. Secondary psychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations, illusions, paranoia, delusions, and affective signs are also present (5:7). Patients in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease sometimes wander away from home or pose a threat to their own safety; constant supervision is required. In the late stages of the disease, total mental and physical incapacitation ensue, necessitating patient institutionalization.

Alzheimer's disease was first described by German physician Alois Alzh

. . .
ase puts those with immediate family members who developed late-onset Alzheimer's at a substantially greater risk (three times the average) of developing this disorder (6:182). Identifying possible genetic links for Alzheimer's disease has proven one of the most fruitful avenues of biomedical research in predicting the occurrence of the disorder. Since the mid-1960s doctors have documented large numbers of families with familial Alzheimer's disease occurring in midlife. Researchers now believe that the disease is linked to the presence of a gene called Apo-E4. Elderly people with one copy of the gene have a 50 percent chance of developing Alzheimer's; for those with two copies of the gene, the probability rises to 90 percent by age 80 (4:62). Researchers are optimistic about the results of early-stage tests for the presence of Alzheimer's disease. In a study of middle-aged volunteers genetically and symptomatically predisposed to Alzheimer's disease, researchers successfully identified diminished brain activity characteristic of Alzheimer's using PET (positron emission tomography) scans (4:62). In another study, a neurologist reports the accuracy of a DNA predictive test for familial Alzheimer's in adults and in fetuses w
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Apo-E4 Elderly, Harvard University, Alois Alzheimer, , alzheimer's disease, Ronald Reagan, Aspen Publishers, University Press, Pollen Hannah's, Patterson Whitehouse, Kern Epidemiology, diagnosis alzheimer's, alzheimer's patient, diagnosis alzheimer's disease, presence alzheimer's disease, disease progresses, percent elderly, 3 1995, tests performed, occurring age 65, disease researchers, alzheimer's disease causes, example patient, treatment alzheimer's disease, changes initial,
Approximate Word count = 2101
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Alzheimer s disease