Caring for an elderly person with Alzheimer's disease Essay

Caring for an elderly person with Alzheimers disease - Essay ExampleLast year, my grandmother of eighty-seven years of mature finally succumbed to disease. I can explain with certainty that it was a long and painful demise. People that develop Alzheimers disease change. First thing to go is the memory. Many people have regular memory issues, but when they repeat themselves constantly, occasionally are violently angry, and are taken over by dementia, feel for for them becomes extremely difficult. Alzheimers is an unfortunate and incurable disease that affects a great deal of people. Family members, caretakers, and nursing homes are frequently burdened with patients with this terrible disease. These are any(prenominal) of the many reasons why I have chosen caring for those with Alzheimers as my topic for the final paper. Slowly but surely, Alzheimers disease (AD) patients brook their memory and their cognitive abilities, and even their personalities may change dramatically. These c hanges are due to the progressive dysfunction and death of nerve cells that are responsible for the stor term and treat of information. Although drugs can temporarily improve memory, at present there are no treatments that can stop or reverse the inexorable neurodegenerative process. But speedy progress towards understanding the cellular and molecular alterations that are responsible for the neurons demise may soon help in developing strong preventative and therapeutic strategies (Mattson 2004). ... To avoid Alzheimers, Mattson suggests mental as head as physical exercise, a low calorie low saturated fat diet, and specifically targeted drugs. Although not required to understand the article, I believe it helped me to have a brief neuromotor background from my exercise science classes. This is a well cited and well written article, but definitely on the level of neuroscience. Mattson suggested ways to avoid Alzheimers, but lacks findings and I would recommend long term follow up st udies. Alzheimers disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that currently affects nearly 2% of the population in industrialized countries the risk of AD dramatically increases in individuals beyond the age of 70 and it is predicted that the incidence of AD will increase threefold within the next 50 years (alz.org). Alzheimers is a brain disease that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms normally develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. Its overwhelming, worse every day, Mrs. Dillon said in Jane Gross article Alzheimers in the living room how one family rallies to cope, I dont have any life. Whatever happened to the florid years? Both of us have been robbed of everything we worked for. The Dillons ordeal is familiar to families of the 4.5 million American men and women with Alzheimers disease, which progressively destroys the cerebral cortex and thus the ability to think, transcend and comprehend. The n umber of afflicted will more than triple to 14 million by midcentury, according to health care experts and demographers. For their caregivers, life is a