Alzheimer's disease

“ Alzheimer's Disease robs its victims of their independence and identity and greatly affects the lives of their loved ones. This disease and other forms of dementia afflict approximately 50 percent of Americans age 85 and older. Due to the rapid growth of our elderly population, experts expect that the number of individuals who will develop this debilitating illness will dramatically increase. As we observe National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, we rededicate ourselves to fighting this devastating affliction and to supporting Alzheimer's patients, their families, and their caregivers. ”

“ Alzheimer's disease ranks among the most severe of afflictions, because it strips people of their memory and judgment and robs them of the essence of their personalities. As the brain progressively deteriorates, tasks familiar for a lifetime, such as tying a shoelace or making a bed, become bewildering. ”

“ Researchers have not yet discovered the cause of Alzheimer's disease, but its effects are well documented. Alzheimer's disrupts the processes that keep nerve cells in the brain healthy, resulting in a decline in cognitive abilities. ”

“ As we continue to pursue better prevention and treatment regimes, we remain committed to caring for those now afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's patients generally live for an average of 8 to 10 years after they are diagnosed. As the disease progresses, patients require increased support from families and caregivers. ”

“ Age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, so the need for prevention, improved treatments, and a cure becomes increasingly urgent as more Americans grow older. My Administration is pursuing the tremendous possibilities that science offers to improve the lives of the millions suffering from this disease. ”

“ Then we are branded as crazy.
Our identity is destroyed by the loss of memory. In Alzheimer's disease there is a total loss of memory. The disease is genetic, but the way it is spreading is alarming. ”

“ As the afflicted person loses the ability to function intellectually, the family faces growing emotional, physical, and financial burdens. Eventually, many victims require specialized professional care. Fifty percent of all nursing home residents in America suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other serious, irreversible forms of dementia.
The medical research community is focusing special attention on Alzheimer's disease in an effort to discover its causes and develop effective treatments. ”

“ Until we conquer Alzheimer's disease, we must continue our research efforts, provide the public with information about the disorder, and seek other ways to ease its burden on patients, families, and caregivers. ”

“ The tragedy of Alzheimer's disease has spurred scientists to intensify their efforts to understand what causes the brain to deteriorate. Recently, a research team cloned a gene involved in the wayward biochemistry of the Alzheimer's brain and located this gene on a specific chromosome. ”

“ For more than two million Americans with Alzheimer's disease, each day is fraught with fear and frustration. Fear of getting lost in one's own neighborhood; of not recognizing members of one's immediate family; of not being able to perform simple, familiar chores. For the victims of this disease, tying shoes or setting a table can be overwhelming tasks. As our elderly population grows, more and more people will be affected by this malady. ”

“ The cells are wearing out. That's why I say that the tragedy that is facing mankind is not AIDS or cancer, but Alzheimer's disease. We are using the neurons, our memory, constantly to maintain our identity. ”

“ Scientific studies of families with an abnormally high incidence of Alzheimer's disease have revealed a possible genetic connection in some patients to chromosome 21. Encouragingly, new knowledge about the brain's neurotransmitters-chemicals that ferry messages between nerve cells-is enabling scientists to develop experimental drugs to try to slow or halt the relentless progress of the disease. ”

“ The maintenance of our identity is possible only through the constant use of memory. It is wearing out the human organism, leaving little energy for tackling the problems of the world. You must have read the statistics recently in an American magazine. One in three in the sixty-year age group is affected by this Alzheimer's disease. The nature of the disease is such that it brings about total and complete destruction of the mind and identity. ”

“ Some, however, begin to have psychological problems associated with senescence—e.g., confusion, depression, paranoia, and sometimes delirious states: supportive therapies: (e.g., B) and sometimes Y
In Alzheimer's disease, which is a distinct disease and not simply a sign of aging, you may have numerous physical complaints that cannot be traced to a physical illness. You may be irritable, lack energy, be apprehensive, show increasing forgetfulness and changes of personality. ”

“ Any diagnosis of psychosis requires a careful evaluation by a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or psychotherapist.
Primary: Y (antipsychotic drugs) in conjunction with M, O, or H
Secondary: Y with S or A; Y with T
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§13 Organic Disorders
§13.1. Senescence, Alzheimer's disease: Senescence is associated with aging. Three-quarters of persons sixty-five years old and older have a chronic, disabling condition such as emphysema, heart disease, or hypertension. Most elderly individuals are able to cope with these disabilities for the rest of their lives. ”

“ Medical experts are now of the opinion that the disease is spreading worldwide without regard to young or old. Scientists are still unable to fathom this disease which afflicts the memory-storing neurons in the brain. It's appropriate here to remind ourselves of U.G.'s warning: "Man's brain is intended to run efficiently this machine called the body. If the brain is used for any other purpose, mankind cannot but be subject to the horrible disease called Alzheimer's. It's not cancer or AIDS that will wipe out mankind which has appeared on the earth as a scourge among living species ”

“ Scientists and physicians are also developing new methods to manage symptoms of Alzheimer's, as well as facilities that are better equipped for the special needs of people with the disease and related disorders. ”

“ It must be noted that not infrequently cases of dementia præcox give test records that cannot be distinguished from normal. It seems that the pathological associational tendencies constitute merely a special group of symptoms, some of which may be expected to be manifest in cases which have reached a state of advanced mental deterioration, but may not necessarily be present in the early stages of the disease. ”

“ There is no clinical entity among the psychoses in which memory is improved, though the hysterical hyperamnesias furnish particular instances of it, as the corresponding amnesias do of memory gaps. Memory defect is a special characteristic of mental disease accompanying the coarser brain lesions, as general paralysis, arteriosclerosis, or senile dementia. ”

“ The varying degrees in which the various portions of the cortex, medullary portion, and different ganglia of the brain may be involved in the morbid process naturally give rise to a great variety in the symptoms, mental and physical, sensory and motor, emotional and intellectual, and in the relative preponderance of one or another in individual cases. The usual symptoms of any form of mental disease may for a time obscure the dementia which sooner or later must appear in general paralysis, and which, as has already been said, is the only mental symptom universally present in all cases. ”

“ Everyone has seen such people who are partially or hopelessly demented. It may come from diseases, such as epilepsy and syphilis; alcohol produces it.
Senile dementia is the result of old age and of acquired brain disease. It is different from simple old age or dotage. In old age the mind is weakened, but the patient is conscious of it, such a person forgets a name or date and gropes about in his memory to find it. ”