Alzheimer’s Disease Essay -- Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimers distemper is a neurodegenerative disorder, meaning it attacks the neurons within the brain. Neurons are the areas of the brain that hold for chemical messages, or neurotransmitters, to be transmitted. These neurons are necessary for connections with other nerve cells, and without them, the neuronS ultimately die. Alzheimers is a form of, and the most common cause of, dementia, or loss of intellectual capacity and personality. (Dementia.) Alzheimers disease, or AD, is not a normal part of aging, although risk of developing the illness increases with age. The onset behavior of the disease normally doesnt appear until age sixty and older. Though symptoms that appear before age sixty have occurred, it is less common and tends to run in families these early onset also tend to progress more rapidly. (Alzheimers Disease) AD is one of the top ten most leading causes of destruction in America. In fact, estimates say that as many as 5.1 million people in the U.S. may have Alzheim ers that number steadily increase with the growing elderly population. (About Alzheimers) In the last forty years, AD has become a prevalent topic amongst the medical and non-medical communities affecting lives and families large(p) us motive for further our understanding of the brain.Alzheimers disease has been known since the turn of the century but was not a prevalent concern until the 1970s. In 1907, Alois Alzheimer, a German physician, documented a case of a fifty-one-year-old woman who was suffering from severe cognitive disabilities. She exhibited difficulties in areas such as memory, language, and social interactions. (Reger 1) afterward death, Alzheimer performed a brain autopsy using silver staining techniques. This allowed him to ... ...int.Dementia. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 02 May. 2015.Reger, Beth. Alzheimers Disease A Brief History and Avenues for Current Research. Journal of Young Investigators Undergraduate, Peer-Reviewed comprehension Journal 6.2 (2002) 1-3. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.Robinson, Lawrence, Joanna Saisan, and Jeanne Segal. Alzheimers Disease Signs, Symptoms, and Stages of Alzheimers. Helpguide.org Expert, Ad-free Articles Help Empower You with Knowledge, Support & Hope. HelpGuide, Mar. 2011. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.Studies Demonstrate Link Among Alzheimers Disease, Down Syndrome and Atherosclerosis. ScienceDaily, 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 3 May 2015.Wattamwar, Pandurang, and P. Mathuranath. An Overview of Biomarkers in Alzheimers Disease. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology 13.6 (2010) 116. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 12 April 2015.