Alzheimer's Disease
What is this disease all about
Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease is a neurological disorder where brain cells die causing memory loss and cognitive decline and is a neurodegenerative type of dementia. This disease starts off mild then gets progressively worse. Alzheimer's disease has the most likelihood of showing up in people at around 70 and increases to over 50% over 85 years of age this is because its mostly caused by increase of age but it can also be by genetics but scientists are not so sure on what the exact cause is. But its most likely from lifestyle and environmental factors effecting the brain over time. Also less than 5% people get Alzheimer's disease so it would make sense that its not just genetics but something more and that is what scientist think and so the conclusion they came up with was that it was maybe by lifestyle and that would make sense not knowing the true cause for the disease. But what scientist do know is that the disease causes damages and kills brain cells and this causes fewer brain cells and fewer connections to surviving cells that is needed for a healthy brain. The brain cells that are lost cause brain shrinkage and eventually killing the brain. Also brain damage can be caused from anywhere from ages 10 to 20 before symptoms begin. You have 100 billion nerve cells that are interconnected and when they are damaged it causes a chain reaction of brain destruction. This disease can be increased of getting if you have a bad lifestyle such as if you are to get Diabetes, Heart disease, High blood pressure, High cholesterol, or even if you get strokes. Those all can increase your chance in getting Alzheimer's disease. But genetics can also contribute to that factor and so can your environment such as if you have amnesia for long periods of time that can put you at risk or any head injury at all can put you at risk. Also lack of education, repetitive jobs,social interaction, and even lack of mental challenges like reading a book or playing a game can increase your chances. From what scientists know there is no actual cure for Alzheimer's disease but they are working on it and they think that maybe there is no cure. The only thing you can do to keep from getting it is try not to do things that would increase your risk of getting it. One thing we cant do to keep from getting this disease is not grow old because since your brain isn't as good as it was when you where younger once you get to 65 and older you have a more likely chance to get it and a lot larger chance of getting it at an age of 85 or older.
Alzheimer's Association Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures 2014
Reflection
From what I have learned from Alzheimer's is that it kills many at old age. Also there is no known cure for this moment. It kind of reminds me of cancer how we don't have an definite cure for it yet but they are working on it. Alzheimer's disease is a disease that's not like the flu or something because it cant be cured by getting a shot. It starts as something little then grows and over time kills you. Lastly I learned that it was a disease that kills off brain cells and is very common and can show up through genetics or increased by environmental or lifestyles.