Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease of unknown cause that is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer’s usually starts in late middle age or in old age and results in progressive memory loss, impaired thinking, disorientation and changes in personality and mood. It is an irreversible, progressive disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills which leads to the eventual inability to carry out the simplest tasks. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer who noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness in 1906. Her symptoms included memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable …show more content…
Of the estimated 5.5 million Americans living with this disease, an estimated 5.3 million are age 65 and older. Approximately 200,000 individuals are under age 65 and have younger-onset Alzheimer’s diease. One in ten people age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Every 66 seconds someone in the United States develops the disease. It kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Deaths from Alzheimer’s increased 68% between 200 and 2010. This disease is affecting more and more people each day and becoming a real problem in the United States. Unless Alzheimer’s can be effectively treated or prevented, the number of people with it will increase significantly if current population trends …show more content…
This includes an evaluation of all federally-funded efforts in research, care and services. It must outline priority actions to reduce the financial impact on federal programs and families, improve health outcomes of all those diagnosed, improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and programs. NAPA enables Congress and the American people to answer this simply question: Did we make satisfactory progress this past year in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease? Unless we create an effective, dementia-capable system that finds new solutions to providing high quality care, provides community support services and programs, and address Alzheimer’s disease health disparities, Alzheimer’s disease will overwhelm the health care system in the coming years. Luckily, there are biotechnology companies trying to solve the growing problems that Alzheimer’s disease is presenting to the public. Despite repeated failures in clinical trials, leading pharmaceutical companies continue to invest time and capital in finding Alzheimer’s disease treatments. 99 percent of therapies in the past decade have come up short. Scientists are bitterly divided on the issue of targeting amyloid to effect the progression of
Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in America. It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Alzheimer’s accounts for 70-80% of dementia cases. By the age of 65, 1 in 9 people are diagnosed and by the age of 85, 1 in 3 people will have the disease. According to the Alzheimer Association, 5 million people in American have Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s starts to form 20 years prior to being diagnosed. Learning about Alzheimer’s can help families understand how Alzheimer’s is more than just memory loss, it is an incurable mental disease.
The disease called Alzheimer’s is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States (Weiner, 1987). It is estimated that the elderly population will double between now and 2030. During this period, the number of elderly will grow by an average of 2.8% annually (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). By 2050, the number of people with Alzheimer’s is estimated to range from 11.3 million to 16 million (Alzheimer’s Association, 2005). These startling numbers should prompt an examination into one of the leading causes of death among this group of people. Understanding what Alzheimer’s is and the known causes of the disease are a good starting point. For those who have aging family members, knowing the risk factors and warning
In the United States there are approximately 5.4 million people living with Alzheimer’s. Every sixty-nine seconds a person is diagnosed. This is an ongoing issue, and unless something is done, sixteen million people will be affected by 2050 (Latest).
A major devastating and debilitating disease, Alzheimer 's is a public health issue that affects not only the United States but also countries all around the world. In 2010, there were 35.6 million people living with Alzheimer’s. Researchers and medical personnel expect this number to triple by the year 2050. The disease is costing America an exorbitant amount of money and has become a burden on families, caregivers, medical personnel, the healthcare system, and the nation’s economy. If attention is not focused on this major problem, “nursing homes will be overloaded, caregivers will be burned out, healthcare system will be overwhelmed, and federal and state budgets will be overtaxed” (Alzheimer’s Association, 2011).
Auguste Deter was the first patient who had such a serious case of dementia that Alois Alzheimer decided to look at her brain when she died. Deter was 51 years old when she began to show signs of what is now considered Alzheimer’s Disease or AD. When she died, Alois Alzheimer, a German physician, decided to look into her brain. He wished to see what was causing her to act so wild and uncontrollable. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, he found that parts of her brain and the cells seemed to be dead. The disease soon was named after Alzheimer because of his discovery and has grown to be recognized throughout the world. While there are other diseases in need of research, Alzheimer's is a growing disease that is in need of more research
Alzheimer’s disease affects the lives of over 5 million Americans today. The cost that it has placed on the U.S is a staggering $203 million dollars. Researchers have reported that those numbers are expected to triple by 2050. However draining that this disease may seem, the real question is whether there is a solution. To this day there is still no cure to stop or even slow down th progression of the brain disease but there are treatments that help cover the symptoms. While the majority of the people who suffer from Alzheimer is generally over the age of 65, about 200,000, of the estimated 5 million, are in the age range of 30-40.
More than 5 million Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer's disease, a number that will grow to 13.4 million by 2050. Health experts estimate that a 65-year-old has a 10% risk of developing Alzheimer's and that baby boomers currently approaching peak age for the disease (60 to 80) will add $627 billion in Alzheimer's-related health care costs to Medicare. There is a considerable psychological price tag too, for patients and caregivers alike--and a fear factor. In a recent poll conducted for The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes On Alzheimer's, 84% of adults surveyed were concerned that they or someone in their family would be affected by the disease. That fear is compounded by the belief that research for Alzheimer's is lagging behind
That is to say, age is a significant risk factor for the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease, and research indicates that the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease doubles every five years beyond age 65. Those at the greatest risk for this malady are individuals over 85 years old which will see their statistics tripled by 2050. It is further estimated that about a half million Americans younger than age 65 have some form of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. (This is referred to as young onset or early onset). (National Institute of Health [NIH], 2013). Consequently Alzheimer’s disease is further considered to be a grave issue in aging as it is reported to be the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. As said by Vera (2013) in a print publication entitled “Mortality From Alzheimer's Disease in the United States: Data for 2000 and
(Bethune, 2010). It affects millions of Americans and is one of the leading cause of death
In 1906 German neurologist Alois Alzheimer diagnosed a 51 year old woman by the name of Auguste Deter with Alzheimer’s disease. This was the first time the world had ever heard of it, and up until now, over a century later, no cure has been found. Much research has been conducted over this extremely widespread and irreversible neural transformation, such as by the likes of famous neurologists ……. It has been found that Alzheimer’s disease progressively ruins the brains functionality, causing complications such as sleeping issues, memory problems, mood disorders, general confusion, and even hallucinations. This mental illness is one that effects millions of people worldwide, and is the leading cause of dementia. The following essay aims to elaborate
Alzheimer's disease is an incurable degenerative brain disease (Kennedy). It is the most common cause of dementia.There is an estimated 47.5 million people around the world affected by dementia in 2016. Most commonly memory loss is the first symptom followed by language impairments, abstract reasoning, and personality changes. We still don’t know what the cause of the Alzheimer's Disease is but scientist are looking for it.
Did you know that Alzheimer’s disease kills more people than both prostate and breast cancer put together? This neurodegenerative illness is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but not only does Alzheimer’s affect the five million Americans living with it. People caring for those with the disease gave up around eighteen billion of their own hours this past year to provide the needed service. What’s even more staggering is that these caregivers put in these hours without pay. Alzheimer’s is a serious concern to scientists, but the disease is rooted in the most complex, confusing part of the human body, the brain. This is a reason why an effective cure for the disease has been unavailable in the past, but new developments
One of the most common forms of dementia in US is Alzheimer’s disease with an estimated 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer’s disease in 2015 and approximately 700,000 patients of age 65 and older to die of this disease. Alzheimer’s has thus become the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. Currently, one of the top 10 causes of death in America, Alzheimer’s disease progression cannot be slowed, cured or prevented. However, various researchers have been working on methods to decrease the progression or cure the disease, primarily focusing on the potentially modifiable risk factors.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition where the neurons degenerate in the brain, while the brain substance shrinks in volume. Alzheimer’s is also the number one cause of dementia. When it was first noticed, Alzheimer’s was thought to be a pre-senile disease, but now it is known to be responsible for seventy-five percent of the dementia cases in people over sixty-five years of age. Alzheimer’s disease usually causes several years of personal and intellectual decline until death. Because there is an increasing number of elderly citizens in the United States, research into the causes and possible cures for the disease is on the rise (1).
Alzheimer's disease (pronounced Alz'-hi-merz) is a progressive, degenerative disease that affects the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior. It was first described by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and has been diagnosed in millions of people to this day (1). This disease results, ultimately, in the destruction of the brain and brings new meaning and insights into just how much brain may equal behavior.