As a person gets older, they experience several body changes, including brain deterioration. Alzheimer’s affects the brain and mainly occurs in middle or old age. The disease wreaks havoc on the mental functions of the patient damaging brains cells thus leading to memory loss and confusion. This paper seeks to identify a person who has Alzheimer’s, how it affected their physical, emotional, and social life, and it gives more details about the disease, that is: its prognosis, genetic component, detection, symptoms, and treatment options.
Part 1: Effects of Alzheimer’s on a person’s life
My aunt has lived with us for the better part of my childhood. She took care of most household chores, especially when my mother was too busy with work. However, recently we observed queer behaviors with her. She often forgets what she was doing, stares a lot, misplaces items in the house, and one day when we were shopping, she wandered away in the supermarket. The behavior was unlike her as she is only forty-five years and therefore we visited a doctor who diagnosed her with Alzheimer’s.
The disease has had a significant effect on her personal life. Physically, she has had trouble with her coordination as most of her muscles are stiff; she complains that she feels tired and has had a few seizures in the past few months. Simple tasks such as brushing her teeth and combing her hair have been challenging, and therefore she needs help doing them. Alzheimer’s has frustrated my aunt as she was our helper in the past, and right now, she is the one in need of help. The frustration has led to aggression and, at times, outbursts of anger, especially when she cannot carry out simple tasks such as feeding herself. As the disease progress, she becomes more depressed day by day. My aunt has self-isolated from most of her friends as she no longer hangs out with them. Most of her friends also rarely come to visit as they are afraid of her reaction to them. It has been hard for our family as my mother has cut back her working hours.. As much as we are my aunt’s primary caregivers, we have been forced to hire a caregiver as we are not always present most of the time. Hiring a caregiver has drained our finances as their services are expensive.
Part 2: Research on Alzheimer
A Prognosis of Alzheimer’s.
A disease’s prognosis gives a patient an overview of it and the possible outcome when diagnosed with it. Alzheimer’s is only noticeable after changes in the brain (Alzheimer’s Association, 2020). The disease occurs in three phases: the mild stage, where a patient can function independently but still needs help from time to time, and the next stage is the moderate stage which is the longest. Patients have a hard time communicating and performing routine tasks, and the last is the severe stage where a patient requires immediate care, and some are confined to bed rest. According to a research, people diagnosed with the condition are nearly 5.8 million and the number is likely to grow as the days go by (Alzheimer’s Association, 2020). The lifetime risk of acquiring the disease is determined by a person’s age, sex, and racial background. A study found that women have a twenty percent chance of getting dementia at forty-five. In comparison, men have a ten percent chance of getting the same age, and Blacks are double in population of people diagnosed with Alzheimer (Alzheimer’s Association, 2020). Such prognosis is essential as it allows patients to plan once they are diagnosed with the disease.
Alzheimer’s genetic markers
Much research has been done on the disease so that people suffering from it or have a relative who has Alzheimer’s can better understand it. Alzheimer’s is influenced by various genetic markers include Presenilin 1 (PSEN1), Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP), and Presenilin 2 (PSEN2), which leads to primitive Alzheimer’s while Apolipoprotein (APOE) causes late-onset Alzheimer (Tanzi, 2012). Early-onset Alzheimer’s is when one acquires the disease before the age of sixty, while late-onset Alzheimer’s is one gets the disease after the age of sixty-five. When one inherits the Apolipoprotein genetic code from their maternal side and another from their paternal side their chance of acquiring the disease doubles. Having one copy of the disease in a person’s DNA makes them an asymptomatic patient, a carrier of Alzheimer’s. Knowing these genetic markers makes it easy for a family to identify the symptoms of Alzheimer and therefore, they will be able to know what to do when a family member is diagnosed with the disease.
Detection and symptoms of the Alzheimer
The disease symptoms indicate something wrong with the body, and early detection is a preventive measure for the disease. Laboratory neuropsychological examinations and a patient’s psychiatric record could help detect Alzheimer’s though they could be exhaustive (Li et al., 2018). Most physicians use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) that inspect mental changes linked to Alzheimer’s. Scientists have noted that Alzheimer’s patients have a smaller medial temporal lobe than ordinary people, and their right hippocampus appears disrupted (Li et al., 2018). The PET scans provide a dependable perspective that identify the metabolic activity linked to amyloid plaque formation characterized by Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is characterized by depletion of the neurotransmitter therefore disrupting the connection among nerve cells (Li et al., 2018). Due to the damaged cells, the person suffers from memory loss and confusion, reasoning communication where they have difficulty reading and writing, and a shortened attention span. In the advanced stages, the patient becomes entirely dependent on their caregivers as they cannot do simple tasks such as dressing (Freudenberg-Hua et al., 2018). Identifying such symptoms in a person could help the family members seek help before the disease progresses.
Treatment of Alzheimer’s.
Knowledge about the treatment of a disease gives the patient a foundation to make rational decisions about the condition they are suffering from. Symptomatic treatments such as cholinesterase try to counter the neurotransmitter disturbance as the cure of Alzheimer’s has yet to be discovered (Grossberg, 2003). The medicine blocks the progression of the disease as they interfere with the pathogenic steps, such as the damaging of neurons responsible for the Alzheimer’s symptoms. Inhibiting these symptoms provide the patient with comfort and independence for a more extended period. Galantamine, rivastigmine, and donepezil are examples of cholinesterase inhibitors for mild cases of Alzheimer’s symptoms (Grossberg, 2003). In as much as there is no cure for the disease, there are medications that suppress Alzheimer’s symptoms, thus giving someone a dignified life before the disease progresses.
In conclusion, Alzheimer’s is a degenerative disease that has enormously impacted our family. It has affected us emotionally, socially, and financially as the treatments are expensive. It is sad to see my aunt experiencing memory loss, and the worst part is that the disease could affect the generation to come due to genetics. I hope researchers develop a cure for the disease as it affects many Americans.
References
Alzheimer’s Association. (2020). 2020 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures. Alzheimer’s &Amp; Dementia, 16(3), 391-460. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12068
Freudenberg-Hua, Y., Li, W., & Davies, P. (2018). The Role of Genetics in Advancing Precision Medicine for Alzheimer’s disease—A Narrative Review. Frontiers In medicine, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2018.00108
Grossberg, G. (2003). Cholinesterase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease: Current Therapeutic Research, 64(4), 216-235. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0011-393x(03)00059-6
Li, R., Rui, G., Chen, W., Li, S., Schulz, P., & Zhang, Y. (2018). Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease Using Non-invasive Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Frontiers In Aging Neuroscience, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00366
Tanzi, R. (2012). The Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives In Medicine, 2(10), a006296-a006296. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a006296
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