Alzheimer's_Evaluation

I have chosen to discuss Alzheimer’s after I had read team D’s presentation on the matter. Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with our memory, the way we think, and finally our behaviors. It changes all of it and it can happen slowly or fast. It is said that there is a seven to ten year chance of survival after diagnosis. So once you’re diagnosed, there isn’t much time left unless you get lucky and live longer than the expectancy. All that really happens with Alzheimer’s is that it gets worse over time so once you’re diagnosed; you can really expect the worse. There are seven actual stages of Alzheimer’s disease and they are as follows; no impairment, very mild decline, mild decline, moderate decline, moderate severe decline, severe decline, and very severe decline. Then we can take a look at what happens to the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient. Indeed there are three major changes that take place in the brain. They are as follows; amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles (NFT’s) which are found inside neurons, and lastly a loss of connections between neurons that are responsible for memory and learning purposes. As damage spreads, cells lose their ability to do their jobs and, eventually the cells will die, causing irreversible changes and damage to the brain (APA, 2012). There are also several changes that a person with Alzheimer’s goes through. The changes in the cognitive activities would be the following; memory, concentration, and orientation. Physical changes that occur would be the following; stiffness, loss of ability to walk, and loss of ability to smile. A person will not be able to perform the simple of tasks (Alzheimer’s association, 2012). Functional abilities that change would be the following; shopping, preparing meals, getting dressed, and taking care of oneself in general. Other changes that follow all of these would be things like our mood and behavior. Both of these are likely to change because once you have Alzheimer’s you don’t really know what you’re doing so of course your behavior and mood will change in order to adapt to your disease. There are no known causes of Alzheimer’s disease except for dementia and possibly a history with seizures. Those are the only known causes and there are no others. Another good fact is that age is the most important known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. This means the longer people live, the more likely they are to develop the disease. Since women have longer life spans than men, they have a higher lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Also, another interesting fact is that it isn’t necessarily 7-10 years life expectancy because people with AD have lived 20 years or more however; it is the fact that most of people with Alzheimer’s die from infection versus the actual disease. The disease is just one that breaks down your mind and body. It breaks down the mind because you can’t remember stuff however; if breaks down your body because you may not feel like caring for yourself anymore or you may forget. While watching their presentation I came across a slide that intrigued me which was the medication approval (FDA Approved meds.). Some of the medications were as follows; Donepezil which is the drug name and the brand name is Aricept and it is approved for all stages of Alzheimer’s. Then you have Galantamine which is the drug name and the brand name is Razadyne which is for mild to moderate stages of Alzheimer’s. Then there is three more and they are as follows; Memantine which is the drug name and the brand name is Namenda and it is for moderate to severe stages; Rivastigmine which is the drug name and the brand name is Exelon and it is for mild to moderate stages of Alzheimer’s, and lastly there is Tacrine the drug name and the brand name is Cognex and the medication is for mild to moderate stages also. Current treatments and therapies for Alzheimer’s disease would be the following; there are two types of FDA approved medications that can help in controlling dementia of Alzheimer’s patients. The initial treatment for patients is cholinesterase inhibitors or ChEIs. Common ChEI’s include Donepezil, Rivastigmine, Galantamine, and Tacrine. These drugs help by binding the enzyme acetylcholinestarase, which allows for better concentrations of acetylcholine, which is believed to affect neurotransmitters affecting thought, learning, memory, and other cognitive processes. For severe Alzheimer’s an additional treatment is N-methyl-D-aspartase (NMDA) receptor antagonist, but restricted to clinical trials because of the cost of it and the supply is limited I am sure. Future treatments and therapies for Alzheimer’s would be something like B-secretase and A-secretase. They do the following; both hope to reverse the loss of cognition and also slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease (Tiedeman, Kim, Flurie, Korch-Black, & Brandt, 2011). These are all I have found on future treatments along with the possibility of further research on new medications. The role of genetics on the onset of Alzheimer’s disease; it must be said that by 2050 the number of Alzheimer's patients is expected to increase by 9 million (Welsh-Bohmer, Plassman, & Hayden, 2010). A family history of positive and negative results can determine and also allow insight to predict future occurrences. With the healthy genes of longevity in age, the prediction of Alzheimer’s disease increasing can also be expected. Say if a family member down the line has had Alzheimer’s and then we see a pattern with his/her children, and then their children, and so forth. It must be a reoccurring disease in some family and in some people. The visual appeal of this team’s presentation was amazing. To me it looked like everything flowed together extremely well, and there were pictures when needed, in order to spruce things up, and the speaker notes were fantastic on helping understand the slides. I also agree that the team was very organized and things flowed well in which they had them set up. They had their in-text citations, works cited, and each part of the slide that was supposed to be there. In conclusion, Alzheimer’s disease is a very serious disease at that. We have learned just about everything we could when it comes to Alzheimer’s. We started with learning about the disease itself and how it occurs or what causes it. We also have learned about current therapies and medications. There is really no cure for Alzheimer’s though we do know we can help the person who has it, with giving them medicine to help cope with their problem. It doesn’t fix the disease because the actual disease itself stays and must be coped with. It’s not by choice and we have also learned about future research with A-secretase and B-secretase, and so forth. Lastly, genetics can play a major role in Alzheimer’s however; it doesn’t always come from genetics. You could be the only person in your entire family who has Alzheimer’s or you could be the tenth person to get it. It’s really hard to say however; we have learned so much interesting information about Alzheimer’s and now we can put it to use whether it’s trying to help an Alzheimer’s patient out or trying to help their family cope, and so forth. Works Cited: APA (2012). Changes in the brain. Retrieved August 13, 2012 from www.apa.org Alzheimer’s association, (2012). What is Alzheimer’s disease. Retrieved August 13,2012 from www.alz.org Tiedeman, M., Kim, E., Flurie, R., Korch-Black, K., & Brandt, N. J. (2011). Alzheimer's disease: Current treatment options and future developments. (cover story). Formulary, 46(7), 268-284. Welsh-Bohmer, K. A., Plassman, B. L., & Hayden, K. M. (2010). CHAPTER 5. Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Cognitive Decline in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease. Annual Review Of Gerontology & Geriatrics, 3081-114. doi:10.1891/0198-8794.30.81