Alzheimer s Disease And Dementia - 1329 Words

We’ve all heard of it. We’ve read articles about it and seen it on movies such as â€Å"The Notebook.† Most of us have family members or friends who suffer from it. So why is it that most individuals still don’t know what it is? According to the Alzheimer’s association, over five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. It is also noted that Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the US, causing more fatalities than breast and prostate cancer patients combined. With that being said, how many commercials have you seen about Alzheimer’s awareness? How many 5k’s and walk-a-thons have you seen advertised opposed to cancer awareness? My purpose with this paper is to shed light on Alzheimer’s and dementia disease and†¦show more content†¦The medical director will look at that person’s medical and family history, ask the spouse or family member for input about recent cogni tive and personality changes, conduct cognitive and physical testing and they generally get an MRI to examine the brain and rule out any other possible causes such as a tumor. Alzheimer’s disease goes through a variety of stages, progressively getting worse and more dangerous as the disease progresses. The first stage is stage one and these people have no impairment. This early in the disease they have no memory problems or at least any that are apparent to their caregivers or loved ones. In stage two, the person has very mild cognitive decline, which many would put along with â€Å"getting older†, these are known the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Some forgetful things that someone in stage two might display would be frequently forgetting where they put their personal belongings such as their purse or eyeglasses. In stage three people suffering from this disease will have mild cognitive decline, which could include problems remembering things or problems concentrating in situations such as a test or during a medical interview. Some more obvious symptoms that a loved one might recognize in stage three would be a personality change where the person seems to want to be alone or withdraw, being unable to recall current events or major historical milestones and difficulty performing tasks such as paying bills or