Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia that can affect a variety of ages, groups or gender. In 1906, a psychiatrist named Alois Alzheimer from Germany performed an autopsy on a female patient that had passed away ("Living with Alzheimer's", p. 12).

According to the "Alzheimer's Association" (2012), the most common sign and characteristics of Alzheimer's is memory loss but also as the illness progresses, the individuals behavior starts to change. The person can start to have changes in how they feel and can become depressed, withdrawn, or anxious with themselves or family and loved. When it comes to memory loss for those with the disease, he/she starts to depend more on family or friends to help remind them of what things are in the their lives. The individual will notices small changes that will be brushed aside as just a normal part of the aging process but as time goes by, the signs are more noticeable. Speaking words at one time was an easy task but as time passes, he/she struggles with just trying to form the words they are thinking and wanting to say. Some of the other characteristics of Alzheimer's are such as solving problems. This becomes a challenge because it is difficult to process what is being read such as a puzzle book or reading a novel. It will take longer to solve the puzzle or finish a novel due to the inability to concentrate on the task they are trying to perform. Activities such as BINGO or playing golf with friends will no longer be interesting to individuals as the disease progresses further due to the lack of communication skills as well as becoming more withdrawn. There have been studies done that shows certain genders are more affected by Alzheimer's.

It has been determined that more women have become affected with Alzheimer's than men. This is done by numerous studies done by researchers and the genetic make-up of females and they outlive men. Research has been done that shows a set of three genes that will guarantee that will become affected with Alzheimer's sometime in their lives ("Mayo Clinic", ", p. 6).The difference between male and females with Alzheimer's comes down to the hormonal differences between them. Women who have the disease tend to be more withdrawn and depressed but show signs of other issues. There is a tendency to hoard items and have a difficult time of throwing out stuff. Women who suffer from Alzheimer's suffer mood swings such as acting giddy and overly friendly to being emotionally unstable. Males that have Alzheimer's have a more aggressive behavior than that of females. They tend to act out sexually, physically and verbally toward others that are around them (Everyday Health, , p. 12).

There are other risk factors to Alzheimer's that can be controlled by following some simple steps. There was a study done on individuals over the age of 65 years old for six years and the study showed that those who exercised for fifteen ...