King

Alzheimer's disease - An illness hard to forget.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys the person's memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate, and carry daily activities. Individual may also experience changes in personality and behavior such as anxiety suspiciousness or agitation as well as delusions or hallucinations. The idea of Coping with Alzheimer's disease can be difficult and painful because there are no cure for this type of illness, however much research is being conducted to help fight the effects of it. Picture yourself being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. No theory can fully explain this disease, sometimes you wake up no even knowing who you are and soon everything will be lost from your memory. In this essay I would like to give you a brief overview of the history, care giving, and the treatment of Alzheimer disease.

History and its many discoveries have helped many to cope with Alzheimer. During the early part of the 20th Century weakening of the brain function in old -age had been recognized but not identified. In 1906 Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German Physician was the first to take note of this disease by identifying "a collection of brain cell abnormalities." This Doctor's outstanding discovery is the reason why today this terrible disease bears his last name. Important information has been learned since this discovery in 1906. One of the discoveries is Familial Alzheimer or "early-onset." Meaning the disease will develop before age 65. Another discovery is "late-onset," meaning the diseases will develop after age 65. Late-onset has no recognized cause and does not demonstrate clearly

whether or not it is inherited. During the late part of the 20th Century the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved various drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease. In 1993, the FDA approved the first drug to treat Alzheimer's disease, Cognex (Tacrine). In 1996 A second drug, Aricept (Donepezil), became available. In 2000, the drug Exelon (Rivastigmine) was approved by FDA. Finally in 2006, the FDA approved Aricept for the management of severe Alzheimer's disease symptoms.

You're probably wondering what effect do these drugs and other treatments have on patients. These drugs have some helpful effect on patients. The main focus for using drugs to treat Alzheimer's disorder is for the patient to develop cognitive abilities- such as memory and thinking. Each drug such as Cognex, Aricept, Exelon and Arcept affect the individual by setting back the breakdown of "acetylcholine." This is a chemical in the brain that makes it easy for the nerve cells to communicate with one another. Antioxidant therapies such as Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Selenium can also play a role in treating Alzheimer. Overall these Antioxidants help "protect the nerve cells from what is known as oxidative damage."