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** In this project I also refer to Alzheimer’s as Dementia and AD**
Are you ready to be horrified? Are you prepared to see
some gruesome pictures? Are you sure you are ready to
be totally grossed out by my project!? Well hold you
breath because I am now going to tell you the name of
the most disgusting project ever. Are you ready? Ok.
Hope you are ready now because my project is
on………… ALZHEIMER’S! Scary isn’t it. If you don’t
know what this disease is or does you have no need to
worry because Alzheimer’s is not the tinniest bit gross.
(Unfortunately) In this project I will be telling you about
some of the symptoms, cause, treatment, and diagnosis
of Alzheimer’s. So, with out further a due get ready to do
some heavy learning on Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s was first discovered / described in 1906
by a German neurologist by the name of Alois
Alzheimer.
This disease is mainly a deterioration of a section of the brain.
One of the effects of this deterioration is memory loss.
Alzheimer’s is sometimes referred to as Dementia, but
they are actually a little different. The main reason they are
confused is because their symptoms are so similar and
because Alzheimer’s can sometimes lead to Dementia.
Alzheimer’s usually only affects people from the age of
60 and higher.
At this time doctors/ researchers/
scientists do not know what really
happens inside the brain to people that
have Alzheimer’s. One thing that they
are pretty sure of is that in AD patients
there is a deficiency of neurons.
They have noticed these following things in
patients who they know who have Dementia:
The picture above
shows the way the
ventricular, (black
area in the middle),
is growing faster
than it should be.
¤Ventricular growth is abnormally fast
What causes Alzheimer’s is still unknown at this present
time, but there are many theories. These include:
¤Family Genes (see pg.9 for details)
¤Genetic mutation (see pg.10 for details)
Family Genetics
It has been shown that many people who have
Alzheimer’s have family member (s) that have a certain
E gene. This gene is called Apolipoprotein or APO E.
The E gene that is most commonly found in these family
members is called APO E3.
There is no hard proof that shows a definite link to
Alzheimer’s and this E gene, but it may be a very
important observation.
Genetic Mutation
Genetic mutation is thought to be linked to the making
of amyloid. Amyloid is a protein in plaques which can
lead to the destruction of neurons.
They find this very interesting because this is what
happens to Down Syndrome patients.
Some of the Symptoms of Alzheimer’s include:
Hallucinations
Appetite Decreasing
Uncoordinated
Aggression
No Longer Cares About
Things They May Have
Loved Before
Forgetfulness
Not Sleeping Properly
Unable To Care For Themselves
Depression
Memory Loss
Severe Confusion
Wanders Around A Lot
Most of the time the process of elimination is used to see if
someone has Alzheimer’s. If the patient has any of the
symptoms of this disease and has no condition such as:
high blood pressure, alcoholism, or diabetes then there is a
much higher possibility of them having the Alzheimer’s.
Even still it is difficult to actually give a clear diagnosis of
this disease.
I believe that most people do not know that they have
Dementia until the later stages is because the symptoms of
this disease do not stand out like some other diseases. For
example memory loss could happen to anyone who is 60+
which is also the more likely age of people developing this
disease.
Right now you are probably thinking that there is no way to
diagnose someone of Alzheimer’s right? Well, you are not
completely right because there is in fact one way to find out.
That one way is to do an autopsy, but to do an autopsy the
person would have to be dead. So, there is pretty much no
real way to diagnose someone of Alzheimer’s.
Unfortunately, there is still no real cure for Alzheimer’s,
but there are some drugs which help patients suffering
from this disease. Some of these drugs are:




Tacrine (Cognex®) – was approved in1993
Donepezil (Aricept®) – was approved in 1996
ENA-713 (Exelon®) – was approved in 2000
Galantamine (Reminyl®) – was approved in 2001
Just like any other drug or medication all of the ones I
mentioned above have side effects. Some of the most
common side effects which happen when a patient is taking
medication include: sedation, falls, and sometimes even
quicker mental decline!
At the moment some research is being done in Britain on
certain therapies and how they could possibly help
patients dealing with Dementia. A very good thing about
therapies are that there are very few side effects and it is
also fairly natural so there will not be many chemicals.
The research being done at the University of Manchester
in the United Kingdom says that aromatherapy and bright
light treatment will be a very helpful treatment to help ease
the most severe symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
Other helpful therapies include:
Music Therapy
Aroma Therapy
Photo Therapy
Electroconvulsive Therapy
In aroma therapy they use special candles to help you
feel a certain way. An example would be for you to
become calm or happy. The smells of the candles send
messages to your brain and that is how they relax you.
Music therapy is similar to aroma therapy. In this
particular therapy they use different music’s to make
you feel a certain way. It is almost like elevator music.
The reason there is music in elevators is to help some
people become distracted from maybe their fear of
heights. Different music’s also send messages to your
brain and make you feel a certain way.
It usually takes from
2-8 years until the
final stage of
Alzheimer’s is
reached. At this
point just about all
of their memory is
gone.
Half of almost
every nursing
home in the
United States has
Dementia patients.
Dementia was only first
described 96 years ago!
This disease is virtually
unknown in people 45 and
younger.
In some cases the patient may
clearly be able to remember their
childhood or early the early years of
their adult life, but when asked to
recall what they had for lunch or just
something more recent they are
unable to do so.