’s Disease Essay, Research Paper
The reason that I chose Alzheimer’s Disease as the disease that I will report on is because I felt
that it is very interesting and common within people over the age of sixty. I believed that I if I need a great
deal about this disease, I would understand more about why so many people have become devastated by it.
A good friend of my Grandfather’s also had the disease but he has passed away. I do know however, that as
soon as it was understood that he had the disease, he had to begin to change the way his life worked
significantly. For one, he really couldn’t go outside alone and he couldn’t do much without his wife by his
side. He had to stay home most of the time dreaming about imaginary things and repeating stories over and
over again. His memory gradually receded and he began to lose control of bodily functions such as his
ability to feed himself or to communicate with others. After seven years of painful suffering, he died.
The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are rather easy to distinguish and classify. Patients of the
disease lose much of the information that they have recently learned and cannot learn anything new. They
begin to constantly misplace objects, often repeat themselves, and usually become confused in simple
situations. When in relatively simplex places patients may become lost or even forget where they are.
Psychologically however, patients begin to become depressed most of the time and be anxious or confused.
Some become restless and can barely ever sleep.
The cause of the disease, although not completely proven, is strictly genetics. It is passed down
from generation to generation and that is one reason why it is so common among older people. Four percent
of persons 65 to 74 years old are affected; ten percent of those 75 to 84 years, and twenty percent of those
85 years or older! I
The treatments and medications for Alzheimer’s Disease are rare. The only legal medication in the
United States is Tacrine, a drug that modifies the course on which Alzheimer’s runs to make the patient’s
life last a little longer. Treatments of this disease are also very simple. Ways to keep patients on track and
not too depressed about their state of being is to keep them feeling as though everything is normal and to
make sure that they do everything like routine. At first, patients can be kept at home for a few years, but
after many years and gradual loss of ability to control themselves, they must be taken to a nursing home
where they will spend the remainder of their lives.
Certain health agencies and networks that help infected people and their families exist. Such of
these are:
For Families
Irvine Multiservice Center
17200 Jamboree Rd., Suite E, Irvine, CA 92713
(714) 724-6650
Family Service Association
18001 Cowan, Suites C & D, Irvine, CA 92714
(714) 660-8020
There is no known way to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease except to eat right and to be a healthy
person. Although this doesn’t guarantee that you will be excluded for the disease, your chances are much
slimmer.
My own personal plan to reduce my risks for this fatal disease is to stay healthy and to maintain a
nutritious diet with plenty of exercise. If it came to be that I was infected with Alzheimer’s, I would start
setting guidelines for myself and my family on how to take care of me. I would start by involving them in
my daily routine schedules of staying healthy such as taking a walk outside or trying to learn new things. I
would make sure that my family took the best care possible of me so that I could live my life to the fullest.