Adeline has had Alzheimer’s disease for six years now; she has been fighting hard but her disease is only getting worse. Her family has done all they could, getting her medicine, caregivers, and showing her great care themselves; but nothing will cure her dreadful disease. Her family is watching her slowing fall, further and further away each year, coming to realize one day they will lose their beloved Adeline to this horrific disease. Adeline no longer recalls who her grandchildren are, but her grandchildren and numerous others will forever remember her. Alzheimer’s disease is a “progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain. It is the commonest cause of premature senility” …show more content…
As stated in the paragraph above Alzheimer's is a very prevalent disease. US Against Alzheimer’s disease says, “More than $200 billion is spent annually treating Alzheimer’s, which is more than 400 times the amount spent on finding a cure” (“Crisis”). People caring for those with Alzheimer’s disease spend far more to take care of their loved one than that of the money spent to find a cure for this terrible disease. If we spend more money on trying to find a cure we will eventually have less money being spent on the treatment because there will eventually be no one to treat. Alz,org says, “Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer's. But drug and non-drug treatments may help with both cognitive and behavioral symptoms” ("Latest Alzheimer's Facts and Figures"). Doctors have figured how to help fight the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, but helping fight symptoms will not save the person's life. Doctors are working hard to find a cure but they are not given enough money to work to find a cure. The National Institute of Aging says, “Alzheimer’s disease research has developed to a point where scientists can look beyond treating symptoms to think about addressing underlying disease processes” ("About Alzheimer's Disease: Alzheimer's Basics…”). The research community believes that they can prevent or control Alzheimer’s if they have a disciplined strategy and an adequate amount of money. Showing people how terrible Alzheimer’s disease really is will bring them to realize how needed a cure truly is, for Alzheimer’s disease is so hard on the victim and on the family of said
Dementia is a serious disorder caused by a variety of brain illnesses which affects a person memory .There are three symptoms stages which are early,middle,and late stages. A Person with dementia lose the ability to think well enough to do everyday activities or solve problems. It is also difficult for a person with dementia to interact with others which makes this disease overwhelming for the families of the Patient. The number of people who have dementia is currently estimated at 47.5 million.
Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and recklessly growing at a fast pace, in that every sixty-seven seconds, someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s. ("Latest Facts & Figures Report | Alzheimer's Association., n.d.) The worst part of Alzheimer’s is not what occurs in the present, but instead, in what is yet to come. In “Jan’s Story,” the author and main protagonist of the tale, Barry Peterson, learns how to cope and live with the pain of The Disease, on a heartbreaking journey of love, loss, and the true test of how far will one go for whom they love.
Imagine a day where everything changes to something new. The daily routine is unrecognizable and suddenly everything becomes a blur. Remembering last Christmas or even the day before seems impossible and all the information disappears. This represents the daily life of people with Alzheimer's disease. In the book, Last Night in the OR by Bud Shaw, the final chapter of the book is “Good Days and Bad.”
After a couple of appointments and a battery of tests were administered, Alice was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Her doctor requested that Alice starts bringing another person to her appointments with her as she may not have a complete understanding of her limitations. However, Alice fights the idea that she will soon lose control of her life and wants to hold on to her independence for as long as possible. In a moment of impulse, Alice tells her husband, John all the details of what has been happening to her and that she has Alzheimer’s.
In fact, opinions tend to wildly shift over the past few millennia. During the Greco-Roman period, symptoms aligning with Alzheimer’s were considered to be a normal process during aging and was expected. Pythagoras, a Greek physician who lived during the 7th century BC, divided the human life span into five separate stages, the last of which being old age, in which he claimed that “the system returns to the imbecility of the first epoch of infancy” (Feldman). With the rise of the Middle Ages came a decline in the role science played in the social context of Alzheimer’s. The church at the time asserted that “disease was a punishment for sin”, which tied into the witch hunts that were famous during these centuries (Feldman).
Which brings me to how my research on dementia helped broaden my understanding on the short story "Babysitting Helen". It increased my knowledge the most in these three categories, the daily life affected, the symptoms of Alzheimer 's, and the struggles on the family. In the short story you can see the Alzheimer 's victim, Helen, was always being watched and always being taken care of. I now know why she was always on watch. As we can assume Barb is the caregiver for her mother and whenever she goes out she has to find someone to watch Helen.
Dementia History Dementia is a disease that brings grief to a family if it is not handled correctly. This disease gradually begins and worsens the cognitive ability over several years. In the dawn of nineteenth century, dementia was just a clinical concept. The doctors believed that dementia in aged people fluctuated within the idea that was due to the blockage in the major arteries in the brain or small strokes inside the vessels of the cerebral cortex. Recently they believe that the dementia is caused due to the mixture of both conditions.
In this report I am going to assess ways in which different types of dementia affect an individual and also the individual’s family and friends. Due to the symptoms and consequences of dementia, a major impact on individual is the feeling of insecurity and the loss of confidence in themselves and their abilities. This can increase a sense of loss of control which in turn may result in the individuals doubting themselves and losing trust in their own judgements. These problems are made worse by the reaction of the people around them that are closest to them, such as friends and family and colleagues will begin to respond to them differently and not treat them in the same way as before.
Alzheimer’s is one out of a big agglomeration of diseases that doesn’t have a cure. According to medical scientist, they still do not know what it is that is causing this awful disease (alz.org, 2018). People all over the world are in misery every day, not just patients but family members, because of Alzheimer’s. Although researchers and scientist are trying to find a cure, other analyst believe we need to identify what is causing the disease. The researchers and scientist plan to have the right equipment in 2020 to diagnose and find a cure but an estimated 2.1 million people could develop Alzheimer's while waiting for a treatment (The Washington Post, 2017).
Student Name: Kayla Stradomski Course # and Section/Time: COMM 101 DAH; Monday, 11:00 a.m. - 1:50 p.m. Topic: Alzheimer’s disease General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose Statement: To educate my audience on the aspects of Alzheimer’s disease. INTRODUCTION Attention Getter: Can you imagine your life if your memories and cognition slowly started deteriorating?
Patients with Alzheimer's, when informed, will become depressed knowing they will soon lose all their memories. People with Alzheimer’s may dwell on the fact that their life is ending and they will be a burden on their family. Some say one should be informed of their disease because they should know of their well-being. They believe one would benefit from knowing and live their lives to the fullest. Others don't agree with this because once one is told their lives are basically over one won't be able to enjoy the rest of their lives as they did before.
After countless attempts, she slowly begins to lose hope in her husband’s memory. The mood of the film shifts slowly from optimism to hopelessness. The lifeless mood shows how Alzheimer’s disease deeply affects so many families negatively. Although the woman was losing hope, she stayed persistent with her goal. Her final attempt of showing her husband their wedding ring proves successful.
You don’t know it 's Alzheimer’s until it hits you right in the face. Millions of people have Alzheimer’s. This forces other people such as family members or nurses to have to help many hours of the day, because the patients of Alzheimer’s can’t do things by themselves. Since the Baby Boomers of the 60s were born, there will be double the elders by the year 2050.People who haven’t experiences Alzheimer’s don’t realize how blessed they are. Alzheimer’s is a an awful disease.
Introduction Alzheimer’s is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events or short memory loss. As the disease advances, symptoms can include difficulty with language, disorientation, mood swing and behavior problems. As a person 's condition progressed, they often withdraw from friends and family. Slowly, bodily functions deteriorated and eventually death occurs.
But I don’t like to believe the situation or the impact matters, it's how you grow and what you acquire through it. The first few years when my mom developed Alzheimer’s, I selfishly pitied myself and wasted time, not realizing time was allied with this disease and my mom didn’t have enough to spare. To have my mom live now, my brother and I needed to live. We had to live for her. And we’ve made mistakes, we’ve got irritated, and then we woke up the next day and kept going.