English 311 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

English 311 - Essay Example There is a wide body of knowledge that addresses various aspects of the issue including causation, prevalence, effects and treatment. Thus, there would be no need for primary research. Alzheimer's disease has for long been associated with old age, particularly age 65 and above. However, it has also been reported to affect teenagers. It affects those with family histories of the disease and those people with diabetes mellitus, elevated levels of plasma homocysteine, cardiovascular diseases, depression, low educational achievement, lack of social interaction, lack of intellectual activity, lack of leisure activities and excessive response to stress. The ethical consideration of care dictates the standards of care that should be given to the people with whom the caregiver has concrete relationships. Alzheimer's disease affects people closely related to the caregiver and should therefore be accorded the deserved care. The following is the definition of Alzheimer's disease using cause-eff ect organizational pattern: Causes of Alzheimer's disease Biological factors Environmental factors Psychological factors Effects of Alzheimer's disease Negative behavioral changes Negative health effects Death Use of medicinal therapy and psychotherapy for treatment As noted by Geldmacher (2012), if Alzheimer's disease is not treated or treated in time, the plaques and tangles spread in the brain leading to death. Therefore, Alzheimer's disease is a dementia that causes problems in memory, behavior and thinking. Paper 2: Alzheimer’s Disease 1. What is Alzheimer’s Disease? Dementia is a terminology used in describing various kinds of brain disorders which progressively result in the loss of brain function. People affected by dementia particularly suffer from the problem of short-memory. Thus, such people consistently forget what they have just done but clearly recall what happened several years back. They typically lose the sense of place and time. Furthermore, they fac e challenges finding words and find it increasingly difficult to do new things or learn new information. With the passage of time, these people would need to be assisted in doing their daily activities such as eating, dressing and washing. Ultimately, they could become incontinent and uncommunicative. Dementias would often last for many years, even 20, and would usually not be the actual cause of death. There are more than 100 varied types of dementia (Alzheimer’s Association, 2013). The most commonly occurring type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. According to Alzheimer’s Association (2013), Alzheimer’s disease accounts for about 50% of all dementia cases, while Geldmacher (2012) further indicates that if this is combined with the clinical diagnosis of its occurrence with other diseases, it would account for 90%. Hence, it is common to find people referring to the disease as dementia. More than 5 million people in the US suffer from the disease, causi ng a financial burden of about $ 170 billion every year caring for these patients. By the year 2050, the number of those affected in the US could rise up to 13 million, the growth largely attributed to the growth in the number of the aging population. Alzheimer’s disease is therefore a type of dementia known to cause problems in memory, behavior and thinking. It got its name after a German neurologist, Dr. Alois Alzheimer (1864 –