Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease of the brain that is characterized by impairment of memory and a disturbance in at least one other thinking function, according to Webster’s dictionary. When people hear about Alzheimer’s disease, they automatically think of older people. This is because this disease most often occurs in adults after the age of sixty-five; research shows that one in eight people will have Alzheimer’s after they reach age sixty-five. Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia, which is basically any medical condition that affects the brain. A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is said to be a “diagnosis by exclusion,” which really means that there is no known test just specifically for Alzheimer’s but will it ever be found?
The early stages deal with short-term memory loss. This includes forgetting to turn off the stove, forgetting what medications were taken on a certain day, or forgetting which medications need to be taken in general. As the disease progresses, there are more noticeable declines in the person’s thinking and function development. As the disease enters the final stages, people become very confused and disorientated. At this point, the individual’s health status has become deteriorated and this can cause them to develop pneumonia or other illnesses that may lead to death. However, most people do not die from Alzheimer’s itself, but do die from other health related problems. Alzheimer’s disease can last anywhere from six to eight years however, it can be present without obvious symptoms for two to twenty years.
There are many factors that play a role in the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. This disease is also genetic, so a person who has family members with the disease has an increased chance of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s later on. This disease is known to be caused by many effects on the brain. A mutation of a single gene is one of the things that are found in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients. There are also...