Alzheimer's Disease Research Paper

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a serious illness that affects well-being of people especially aged 65 years and above. For this population, AD is a primary cause of dementia. People diagnosed with AD are likely to experience significant memory declining, deterioration of language and problem-solving skills, and reduction in the functioning of cognitive tasks that influence how an individual performs everyday activities (McKhann et. al., 2011). Furthermore, there is a lot of capital and social cost associated with AD that is dominant for people over the age of 65 years. A 2012 analysis of the situation by Alzheimer's Association established that over 200 billion dollars were used annually for payments to the treatment of the disease (Alzheimer's Association, 2013). Such a high cost indicates that there is a huge effect for affected families in regard to retirement savings, food budget, and restricted health spending on other preventive medical practices. Such an indication raises a concern for understanding and preventing dementia-related costs that stem from the AD.

In 2016, AD is estimated to be attributed to the deaths of approximately 130,000 people in the state of Georgia. According to a report by the Alzheimer's Association, (2016), this state had 50,000 people, aged 85 years and above who had been diagnosed with AD in 2016. This number reflects almost 38% of the total elderly population in the state of Georgia (Alzheimer’s, Association, 2016). The projected statistics have shown that by 2020, the number of AD patients in the state of Georgia will increase by 15.4 percent; by 2050, 46.2 percent of the population will be affected by AD (Alzheimer's Association, 2015). In the United States of America, it is estimated that a population of 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer's Disease, with the number expected to grow rapidly to the point that by 2050, a new case of AD will be developed after every 33 seconds (Alzheimer’s, Association, 2016).

Due to the significant burden on older people, there is an urgent need for health professionals to examine the outcomes and factors associated with AD (Prince et. al., 2015). Furthermore, there is a further need to understand how a quality of care provided by caregivers working for AD patients influences health outcomes among AD patients in that caregivers are persons who directly interact with the patients at care facilities (Allen, Dublin, & Kimmerly, 2012). This chapter looks into the AD and its impacts on patients, as well as caregivers working with the patients.

Statement of the problem

AD is common among the aging population of people over 65 years in the United States, but it is not a distinctive characteristic of the aged (Karasek, 2004). In its initial stage, AD starts on one side of the brain. It then slowly extends to other parts, including sections dedicated for the retention of the memory (Whitehouse et. al., 1982). Even though medication does not cure this disease, medication helps in improving the destructive consequences, by reducing its progression and relieving patients from some of the severe symptoms (Citron, 2002). According to Dave, Mary, Dawn, and Char (2001), Alzheimer’s is a complicated disease because its consequences are so severe.

Research has shown that AD is associated with various negative health outcomes. With time, AD causes nerve cells to be disconnect from the brain, leading to its shrinkage (Weiner & Frenkel, 2006). During the final phase of AD, this shrinkage was evident throughout the whole brain, and its tissues appear to shrink to significantly low numbers (Wlody, 2014). Memory loss was especially pronounced among AD patients. It had negative consequences for the victims as they develop problems getting lost, taking unusual long times to complete simple tasks, and repeating statements and questions (Alzheimer’s, Association, 2016). Memory loss may also lead to forgetting people, paranoia, hallucinations, and an inability to learn new things (Kotilinek et. al., 2002). In addition, losing brain tissue tend to influence the language function of a patient and how he or she constructs meaning when communicating with others. At the last stage, the brain shuts down completely, and the patient was forced to stay in bed (Albert et al., 2011).  

Moreover, another factor associated with AD is age; AD is a kind of dementia that mostly affects the elderly (Bertram & Tanzi, 2011). Although AD is a form of dementia, it is not necessarily like other forms of mental disintegration such as delirium. Dementia leads to loss of the mental and intellectual abilities, intelligences, and social skills. Studies showed that about 10 percent of people who suffer from dementia are “dementia pre-aging” or prehensile dementia (Bertram & Tanzi, 2011). If the patient is over the age of 65, it is called “senile dementia.” However, existing literature has reported the importance of lifestyle which is a primary factor associated with AD among older people. Research showed that AD is associated with the diet, social engagement, and physical activities for older people and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is likely to decrease the risk of developing and suffering from AD (Bertram & Tanzi, 2011).

Social relationships have been investigated and found to have an impact on the health of an individual. According to Cohen, (2004) maintaining a good relationship helps an elderly patient maintain a healthy life at a prolonged time. Good relationships indicate better care for the ailing relatives hence increasing their chance of feeling better or recovering from the effects of the disease. Better relationships also retain good memories for the patient and it increases the possibility of them feeling better and being responsive to treatment (Kawachi & Berkman, 2001).

Furthermore, many studies have highlighted a significant impact of quality of care delivered by caregivers working for AD patients especially at long-term care facilities on health outcomes for AD patients. For these caregivers, they have more burden caring for the patients because of the associated memory loss (Etters, Goodall & Harrison, 2008). Caring for a close relative with AD-associated dementia means that they do not even recognize you as they used to, hence causing a psychological trauma to the caregiver. If they are not informed on what to expect with an AD patient, they might end up retracting from caring for them. Most of the caregivers to AD patients have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, especially when the patient is a close relative (Mahoney, Regan, Katona & Livingston, 2005) As suggested by Bourgeois, Schulz and Burgio, (1996) caregivers for AD patients should be equipped with immense knowledge regarding the disease in order to raise their awareness of care to the patients and also increase the interaction they make with them.