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Alzheimer 's Disease Is The Most Common Type Of Dementia

Decent Essays

1. Alzheimer’s Disease a. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia b. Dementia is a term used to describe the disorders that affect the brain such as in memory loss. c. Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative brain disorder causing progressive memory loss and destroys thinking skills. d. First discovered by Alois Alzheimer (a German physician) who first discovered the disease in 1906. (Alzheimer’s and Dementia) e. First discovered, while Alois was preforming an autopsy on a woman who suffered from memory loss for years. f. What he found was microscopic amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. g. Also believes that abnormal deposits of specific proteins inside the brain can mess with normal brain function causing shrinking of the brain. h. Shrinking of the brain over time can be seen in a CT or MRI scan. 2. Symptoms a. Mental symptoms i. According to Naheed Ali, from “Understanding Alzheimer’s,” people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease can be broken down to two parts: 1. Retrograde amnesia a. This is memory loss of specific events that happened before Alzheimer’s b. This category affects parts of the brain where memories are stored as in: i. The hippocampus ii. Diencephalon iii. The Temporal lobes 2. Anterograde amnesia a. This is when the patient is unable to create new memories after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s b. Leading to short term memory loss c. Leads to sever and permanent memory loss. b. Physical and verbal symptoms i.

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