Alzheimer's Disease History

Alzheimer 's Disease and its History, Symptoms, and Treatments

Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia and is a progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age. It is the most common cause of a cognitive loss (Glicksman). In the United States, more than five million people are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease (Marsa). Some cases can be mild due to a later development in life. Because the disease develops later in life a patient will die before symptoms become severe. In most cases a patient will go through a progression of symptoms leading to death (Glicksman).

More than one hundred years ago, German Physician Alois Alzheimer, was doing a test on Auguste Deter. Deter was a patient who was hospitalized in the Mentally

A sign of Alzheimer’s is memory loss. This memory loss will be severe enough to disrupt daily activities. This is why memory loss is normally the first and most common sign of the disease; some examples of memory loss forgetting recently learned information, important information, or dates and events. Another symptom is when someone has challenges in planning or solving problems. There may be changes in how well patients are able to solve a problem. Most Alzheimer’s patients have a hard time working with numbers or following a plan. For some people, a symptom can be having trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. This is a hard symptom to catch because the signs of aging and Alzheimer’s disease are similar. The next symptom is changes in mood and personality. A patient who is acting a certain way can change their mood without being provoked. A range of emotions can be experienced as the disease progresses. Another symptom of Alzheimer’s disease can be episodes of confusion. Some examples would be placing objects in odd areas, or leaving the house and getting lost on the way to their destination

Doctors can perform imaging and can conduct surveys and based on the results they make a determination with adequate certainty. A definitive answer on these tests cannot be given until an autopsy is performed on the deceased and the plaques and tangles are identified. If a patient does have Alzheimer’s, changes in the brain begin years before any signs of the disease. This time period, which can last for years. This time period is referred to as preclinical Alzheimer 's disease. The next stage is known as the early stage. In the early stages of Alzheimer 's, a person may function on their own. He or she may still work, drive and be part of social activities and extracurricular activities. Despite this, the person may feel as if he or she is having memory lapses, such as forgetting familiar words or the location of everyday objects or even dates of loved ones birthdays (Jonker). The next stage is known as the middle stage. The middle stage is normally the longest and can last up to many years. During this stage, people may need a higher level of care. This is when the patients may start acting frustrated, angry and wandering off. Damage to nerve cells in the brain can make it difficult to express thoughts and perform normal routine tasks. The final stage is the late stage. In the final stage of this disease, individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment, to carry on a conversation and,