Alztheimer Paper Hca 220 Week 9
Alzheimer’s Disease
Jennifer Wlos
HCA/220
August 19, 2012
Dawn Tesner, DHEd, CPhT
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurologic disease of the brain leading to the irreversible loss of neurons and the loss of intellectual abilities, including memory and reasoning, which become severe enough to forgetting social or occupational functioning. Alzheimer’s disease is also known as simply Alzheimer’s, and also Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT). I chose my paper on Alzheimer’s because I have known someone very important to me who suffered from such a terrible disease. She was my great aunt but more of like a grandmother to me because she was around more than my actual grandmother. When I was growing up I didn’t understand the seriousness of Alzheimer’s disease. I actually thought it was humorous when my aunt wouldn’t remember where she put her glasses, or started to put the milk in the cabinet instead of the fridge. She started getting drastically worse to the point where she sometimes would not even remember some family members and then I started to get worried it wasn’t humorous to me any longer. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. The word dementia comes from the Latin word de meaning “apart” and mens from the genitive mentis meaning “mind”. Dementia is the progressive deterioration in cognitive function – the ability to process thought (intelligence). (Nordqvist, 2009) Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease meaning the disease gets worse as it progresses. Alzheimer’s sometimes occurs from something as simple as a stroke and that is what ended up happening to my aunt. The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease can be tricky to diagnose because each patient has unique signs and symptoms. A handful of the signs and symptoms presented in Alzheimer’s disease also exist in other conditions and diseases. Alzheimer’s disease is classified into several stages. The 7 – stage framework is very common when
Jennifer Wlos
HCA/220
August 19, 2012
Dawn Tesner, DHEd, CPhT
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurologic disease of the brain leading to the irreversible loss of neurons and the loss of intellectual abilities, including memory and reasoning, which become severe enough to forgetting social or occupational functioning. Alzheimer’s disease is also known as simply Alzheimer’s, and also Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT). I chose my paper on Alzheimer’s because I have known someone very important to me who suffered from such a terrible disease. She was my great aunt but more of like a grandmother to me because she was around more than my actual grandmother. When I was growing up I didn’t understand the seriousness of Alzheimer’s disease. I actually thought it was humorous when my aunt wouldn’t remember where she put her glasses, or started to put the milk in the cabinet instead of the fridge. She started getting drastically worse to the point where she sometimes would not even remember some family members and then I started to get worried it wasn’t humorous to me any longer. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. The word dementia comes from the Latin word de meaning “apart” and mens from the genitive mentis meaning “mind”. Dementia is the progressive deterioration in cognitive function – the ability to process thought (intelligence). (Nordqvist, 2009) Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease meaning the disease gets worse as it progresses. Alzheimer’s sometimes occurs from something as simple as a stroke and that is what ended up happening to my aunt. The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease can be tricky to diagnose because each patient has unique signs and symptoms. A handful of the signs and symptoms presented in Alzheimer’s disease also exist in other conditions and diseases. Alzheimer’s disease is classified into several stages. The 7 – stage framework is very common when
References: AHFS Consumer Medication. (2010) Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth Andrews, T. (2011) What Body Systems are Affected By Alzheimer’s Disease? Retrieved from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/177220-what-body-systems-are-affected-by-alzheimers-disease/ Mayo Clinic Staff. (2011) Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers-disease/ds00161/dsection=tests-and-diagnosis Nordqvist, C. (2009) What is Dementia? What Causes Dementia? Symptoms of Dementia. Retrieved from: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/142214.php Reisberg, B. (2002) Stages of Alzheimer’s. Retrieved from: http://www.alzinfo.org/clinical-stages-of-alzheimers