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Informative Essay On Alzheimer's

466 Words2 Pages

Can you imagine a world in which you can’t even remember your own personal history, or need help remembering your own address? This world has you struggling doing the most basic of things, such as walking, sitting, and swallowing. A world such as this is hard to imagine but surely doesn’t seem to exist, unless you know of Alzheimer's, the devastating disease that affects more than 5.5 million people, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Furthermore, people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s suffer through this daily, and eventually you may experience the same struggles as well. This serious disease affects your body in several devastating ways, and has harmless sounding symptoms. Additionally, there are not many treatments, …show more content…

For example, according to the website /www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_stages_of_alzheimers.asp, the early phases include forgetting names, or having trouble trying to come up with the right word. On the other hand, this contrasts heavily with the symptoms of the middle stage, which include forgetting personal history, increased risk of being lost, and confusion on where they are or what time of day is it. Furthermore, the late stage symptoms are even more severe, and include decreased awareness of surroundings, difficulting walking and sitting, and vulnerability to infections such as pneumonia. In addition, Alzheimer’s has drastic changes to the body. For example, a decade before symptoms start showing, “toxic changes are taking place in the brain. Abnormal deposits of proteins form amyloid plaques and tau tangles throughout the brain, and once-healthy neurons stop functioning, lose connections with other neurons, and die.” according to www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet#changes. Furthermore, in severe cases of Alzheimer’s brain tissue shrinks significantly due to plaques and tangles spreading throughout the brain. Lastly, scientists don’t yet know the direct cause of Alzheimer's, and there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, but people who are diagnosed are usually in their mid 60s.

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