Alzheimer’s Disease
Usually people have trouble finding where they left their keys, or where they put something and can’t find it. Well, don’t worry. That is a problem everyone encounters occasionally and it doesn’t mean they have Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is much more serious and afflicts about eleven percent of the world’s population over the age of sixty.
Michele
Pinjeiro states that “statistically two people out of 40 will end up with
Alzheimer’s by the time they reach sixty-five. In the United States, Alzheimer’s
afflicts four million people and claims over 100,000 lives a year, making it the
fourth leading cause of death among the elderly, after heart disease, cancer,
and stroke” (Pinjeiro Interview).
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, which seriously affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities. Dementia affects these daily activities by progressing destruction to the brain cells, thus leading to gradual and irreversible loss of memory, thinking, language skills, perception of time and space, and, eventually, the ability to care for oneself. Today Alzheimer’s disease is recognized as the most common cause of the loss of mental function in those aged sixty-five and over.
Symptoms
typically begin with difficulty remembering new information, then progress to
greater and greater disruption in memory, reasoning, judgment, and personality.
People with Alzheimer’s gradually lose the ability to perform routine daily
activities and self-care, becoming bedridden in the final stages of the
disease. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increases as people grow
older. 
The audiotape Nursing Strategies for Treating Dementing Disorders explains the disease: The risk of developing Alzheimer's disease increases with increasing age up to about age 90. Researchers estimate that as many as 50% of those over 85 have the disease. Having a family history of Alzheimer's disease increases your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease too. Those with one parent with the disease have a 1.5 times greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease than those with two afflicted parents, their children will have a five times higher risk, of getting Alzheimer’s disease. Women are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than men. The risk of developing Alzheimer's disease is as much as four times higher for African Americans as for Caucasians. (Branski)
The cause of Alzheimer’s disease still remains a mystery, but researchers have found that particular groups of people have risk factors that make them more likely to develop the disease than the general population. According to “General Information,” Studies show that people with a family history of Alzheimer’s have a 90-95% higher chance of getting the disease as well.”
Alzheimer’s disease is usually very gradual. In the early stages, Alzheimer’s patients have relatively mild problems learning new information and remembering to perform routine mechanical tasks, such as locking the front door or turning off the oven. As the disease progresses, patients may have difficulty remembering what day or month it is, or finding their way around familiar surroundings. They may develop a tendency to wander off and then be unable to find their way back. According to (“Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease”). “In later stages there is severe deterioration of intellectual functioning with complete loss of language, loss of bladder and bowel control, and an inability to walk or perform activities of daily living. The person may be unable to eat or swallow and is at risk of getting malnutrition and pneumonia.”
Patients with Alzheimer’s may live many years with the disease, usually dying from other disorders such as pneumonia. Sheri Branski’s Nursing Strategies for Treating Dementing Disorders reports that, “typically the time from initial diagnosis until death is seven to ten years, but this is an estimate and can range from three to twenty
years, depending on the age, other medical conditions present, and the care patients receive.”
According to “Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease” on the internet, There is no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Jinny Tavee and Patrick Sweeney believe it’s a normal process of aging, and a physical condition that affects thinking, memory, reasoning, and interferes with one's daily activities. However communication and management techniques, as well as medication can improve the quality of life for someone with Alzheimer's Disease and related disorders.”
As stated by Benjamin Frank Miller in Encyclopedia & Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, “The U.S. Food and Drug and Administration (FDA) has approved three medications that temporarily delay worsening of memory symptoms using Aricept, Reminyl, and Exelon. All three of these drugs are in a class called cholinesterase inhibitors and work by temporarily boosting levels of acetylcholine, a nerve cell communication chemical that becomes deficient in the Alzheimer brain.” (Miller 64) However after having a family member with Alzheimer’s Disease I have found out that Aricept is the latest findings on one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for Alzheimer's disease. Aricept is a drug treatment that has been developed to temporarily slow down the progression of symptoms in some people.
If someone is taking care of an Alzheimer’s patient and eventually the patient becomes too difficult to take care of, the patient may be placed in a skilled nursing home. This is necessary when the patient becomes totally dependent on caregivers and skilled nursing care. As time goes on, the need for care assistance increases. Locally, speaking to Michele Pinjeiro, “Stanislaus County has an active Alzheimer’s organization that provides care givers. With the money donated to the Stanislaus county organization they are able deliver packets out to inform people of the disease. Stanislaus County also provides support groups to doctors, lawyers, and home care. In the future Stanislaus plans to expand their care giver facility” (Pinjeiro Interview).
According to The Modesto Bee, A new senior facility will be going up in Modesto. This facility will be a ten million dollar project that will have apartments for assisted living, Alzheimer’s care. They are open now, but are still working on the building right now in the vacant lot between the Beyer skate park and Richland Market. They plan on finishing the facility in 2004 sometime” (“Stanislaus County”).
According to the Alzheimer Association, By 2050, the estimated range of Alzheimer's disease prevalence will be 11.3 million to 16 million Americans, with a middle estimate of 13.2 million unless a cure or prevention is found” (“Statistics”). Alzheimer’s disease is a terrifying illness for both its victims and their families.
We all are watching as our former President Ronald Reagan, once the leader of our country and a very intelligent man, slowly and gradually is declining since he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. I watched my great-grandmother progressively go from a very bright and pleasant person to someone who was confused, lost, and couldn’t remember my name. It is undoubtedly a very painful and sometimes long, steady decline in a person’s ability to remember and function that a family must be prepared to face. As our baby boomers reach their 50’s-60’s, if a cure isn’t found for Alzheimer’s, skilled nursing homes will be overflowing with Alzheimer patients.
We can only hold our breath and hope for the discovery of the cause and a possible cure for Alzheimer’s. No one wants to get Alzheimer’s and possibly become a burden to family. This disease causes a slow and difficult death that no person should have to endure. We can only hope a cure is found soon.
Works Cited
Branski, Sheri. Nursing Strategies for Treating Dementing Disorders. Cassette:
Lecture, Promedica Research Center, 1997.
“General Information.” 6 Mar. 2003. Alzheimer’s Disease Education & Referral. 21 Oct
2003 <http://www.alzheimers.org/generalinfo.htm>.
Miller, Benjamin Frank. “Alzheimer’s Disease.” Encyclopedia & Dictionary of
Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health. 5th ed. 1971.
Pinjeiro, Michele. Personal interview. 12 Oct. 2003.
“Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.” 12 Feb. 2002. Alzheimer’s Disease. 27 Oct. 2003
<http://www.helpguide.org/elder/alzheimer_stages.htm#online>.
“Stanislaus County Alzheimer Facility.” Editorial. The Modesto Bee 16 Oct. 2002: B8.
“Statistics About Alzheimer’s Disease.” 19 Aug. 2003. Alzheimer Association. 3 Nov.