Alzheimer's Disease

She looks at me and stares blankly with her big brown eyes. She doesn’t remember. My mother says my eyes are just like hers. “Pretty brown eyes must skip a generation,” I joke as the nurse feeds my grandmother. “Open,” the nurse tells her soothingly, “She forgot how to eat,” she then tells me. “I have to remind her after every bite to chew, and then swallow…” “Can we all go for a walk?” I ask my mother. “She forgot how to walk…” my mother tells me, “But when you were younger, she used to go walking with you everyday…Do you remember those days? She used to read you a story every night before bed too?” I shake my head. It was too long ago. I don’t remember those days. I can imagine my grandmother and myself walking in my neighborhood, but I don’t have an actual memory of it. My grandmother died on February 28th 2007 from Alzheimer’s. When I was about 5, she was in the early stage. Waking up in the middle of the night, walking to Waterfront, not knowing how she got there. Thinking there were robbers in the house when there was no one. Forgetting the faces of her own children. Misplacing valuable jewelry, then calling the cops saying that someone broke in when the jewelry was right on her dressing table. Then as the disease progressed, she started forgetting how to walk, how to eat, how to do daily tasks. Unable to live by herself anymore, my mother put her in a nursing home, where there would be people there to take care for her, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Then in the final stage, my grandmother was wheelchair bound, and she never talked. She forgot how to do that too. The only word I ever remember her saying was uttered one day when the nurses were stretching her. It was “fuck!” not exactly the last word you wish to hear your grandmother say, but I will take it any day over silence. When my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, there were no drugs she could use to stop the disease. There still isn’t, however, there are now drugs that can be used to slow the progression of it. Today, those with Alzheimer’s disease can choose between multiple of drugs including; Aricept, Exelon, Razadyne and Namenda. However, the cause of Alzheimer is still unknown. All they know is that if it runs in your family, you have a high risk of getting it, and if you’re a female, you have an even greater risk. Many scientists believe that Alzheimer's disease results from an increase in the production of a beta-amyloid protein in the brain that leads to nerve cell death. This hypothesis is known as the “Amyloid Cascade Hypothesis”. Ten percent of people over 65 years of age and 50% of those over 85 years of age have Alzheimer's disease. By 2050, about 14 to 15 million people will develop Alzheimer’s disease, unless there are new treatments. Some factors that increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease include high blood-pressure and diabetes. Symptoms include memory loss, mild personality changes, misplacing objects, problems with critical thinking, disorientation, and loss of conversation skills. The beginning of Alzheimer’s disease is usual gradual, but as the disease progresses, everything speeds up. There are also 3 different stages of Alzheimer’s, Stage 1(mild), Stage 2(Moderate) and Stage 3(Severe). Stage 1 can last about 2 to 4 years, and during this stage, those with Alzheimer’s are easily confused, have slight memory loss, start having problems communicating, and misplace objects. Stage 2 can last from 2 years to 10 years, the longest of the three stages. During this stage, those with Alzheimer’s become disabled, start forgetting recent events, have trouble recognizing familiar people such as close family and friends, have even more difficulty with talking, reading and writing, and are no longer safe to be on their own. The final stage, Stage 3, lasts from about 1 year to 3 years. People with Alzheimer’s in this stage can no longer feed themselves, speak, recognize people, and have no control over bodily functions, such as eating. The Alzheimer's Disease Research is a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation, dedicated to researching the causes of Alzheimer’s, and ways to prevent the disease. Recent studies have now shown that Aerobic exercise can reduce the risk of any form of dementia, and so may diabetes. Having a good night sleep can also reduce the risk of getting Alzheimer’s and so can getting enough Vitamin B12, which will also result in better thinking skills. There is still no known cause, and no cure, but there now more ways to slow down the process.