Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a deadly neurodegenerative disease that is hard to diagnose, test, and treat. Alzheimer’s was discovered by and named after Alois Alzheimer in 1906. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. “Alzheimer’s destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life” (Alzheimer’s Association). This disease becomes worse over time and fatal. Alzheimer’s is the seventh leading cause of death in America; there’s about 5.3 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease.
To begin with, recognizing the symptoms will probably be easiest part of having Alzheimer’s. Although everyone forgets things at times, people with Alzheimer’s usually forget the name’s of family members or try to have a conversation with someone that they already had. They also experience personality changes; they might be angry one moment and later become depressed. At times the person might feel disoriented. For instance, they forget the date or feel lost in their own homes. The familiar tasks the person once performed become unfamiliar and feel new. As the disease progresses these symptoms become more prominent.
On the contrary, diagnosing and testing for Alzheimer’s is easy. The doctor will ask the patient if about any current or past illnesses they’ve had or that have occurred in the family. At times the doctor might ask for the patient to bring in a list of prescriptions the patient is on to try and find a tie between the medication and the disease. The Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) is the most common examination for Alzheimer’s. The examiner might ask the patient to repeat a phrase or count from 100 backwards by 7. The bigger the score the patient receives, the milder the case is. At times they might have to see a neurologist to receive a neurological exam. The neurologist examines coordination and balance, eye movement, and speech..
