5. "DISABILITY IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES, AND ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS"

Summary: The cost of Alzheimer's Disease, in addition to the amount of people accumulating the disease, is becoming a substantial social issue. The correlation between these two problems creates an entirely new social problem and burden for families and those with AD.

Key Facts:
"Risk factors for AD include advanced age, genetics, as well as female gender and possibly previous head trauma."
"About 10% of the US population has AD at age 70, but this number increased to roughly 40% by age 90."
"Hallucinations were negatively correlated to and significant predictors of two different measures of activities of daily living in individuals with probable AD."
"Give the significant disability in many individuals with AD, it is not surprising that the attendant costs, both economically and socially, are enormous."
"Nonetheless, when direct and indirect costs are totaled, the estimated economic burden of AD is huge; a variety of studies using different economic approaches have estimated that the annual cost of caring for a patient with AD int he US to be roughly $40,000 to $50,000 per year in 2000."
"Given the aging of the US population, the prevalence of AD will increase in the future, as will the burden of caring for millions of individuals with significant cognitive and behavioral limitations."

DEMAKIS, GEORGE. "DISABILITY IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: CAUSES,
CONSEQUENCES, AND ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS." JSTOR. SPAEF, 1 Jan. 2007. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25790710>.

4. "Smoking and Alzheimer's Disease: An Alternative Hypothesis"

Summary: As opposed to most articles that say smoking and nicotine may be a contributing factor to Alzheimer's Disease, the authors here say that Alzheimer's Disease occurs less in those that do smoke cigarettes.

Key Facts:
"The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease was significantly lower in smokers than non-smokers."
"Alzheimer's diease could be due in part to the anti-inflammatory effects of these drugs."

Cox, Brian, and Margaret Whichelow. "Smoking and Alzheimer's Disease: An Alternative Hypothesis." JSTOR. BMJ, 1 Oct. 1997. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25568546>.

3. "Memory Implants"

Summary: Author John Cohen talks about how Theodore Berger is in the process of developing a technology that will be able to trigger people's memories into remembering the long-term. By inserting this piece into the brain, it works with the neutrons in order to process information to generate memories. A highly scientific article, Cohen goes in depth with Berger's experiments. For example, they used a monkey to perform a specific task, drugged the monkey with cocaine (eliminating that memory and the same part of his brain), and then used the technology to revive his memory of the past task just taught. This is still highly a work in progress and Berger is collaborating with associates at USC.

Key Facts:
"A day in the not too distant future when a patient with severe memory loss can get help from an electronic implant."
"Berger has designed silicon chips to mimic the signal processing that those neurons do when they’re functioning properly—the work that allows us to recall experiences and knowledge for more than a minute."
"We’re not putting individual memories back into the brain," he says. "We’re putting in the capacity to generate memories."
"Cochlear implants now help more than 200,000 deaf people hear by converting sound into electrical signals and sending them to the auditory nerve."
"Berger has developed mathematical theorems that describe how electrical signals move through the neurons of the hippocampus to form a long-term memory, and he has proved that his equations match reality."

Cohen, Jon. "Memory Implants." Technology Review. 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513681/memory-implants>.

2. "Behavioral Symptoms Hit Early in Alzheimer's"

Summary: Alzforum, a website dedicated to the research of Alzheimer cures, published an article talking about behavioral systems and their presence in those with and without dementia. Issues concerning dressing ones self, holding a job, and paying bills and emotions regarding depression, anxiety, and depression all come to those with the disease, however they are obtained faster in those with dementia.

Key Facts:

"Irritability and depression are common and tend to develop in a particular order, they occur sooner in people who progress to dementia."

"According to the functional activities scale, people en route to cognitive problems struggled with daily living activities such as paying bills, shopping, and preparing meals, while people who remained cognitively normal did not. "

"Behavioral Symptoms Hit Early in Alzheimer's | ALZFORUM." Alzforum, 21 Jan.
2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/behavioral-symptoms-hit-early-alzheimers>.

1. "Alzheimer's Treatments that Work Now"

Summary: In this article, Barinaga talks about the use of behavioral strategies for those suffering from Alzheimer's. By putting them into an age category and using infantile strategies to communicate with them, skills are better retained and their emotions are far less aggressive.

Key Facts:
"Experts have learned that every patient goes through a predictable decline."
"Patients may lose some abilities faster than necessary because their caregivers underestimate what they can still do for themselves."
"Anti psychotic drugs or physically restraining them can cloud the patients' minds even further or increase their agitation."
"Find the causes of the troubling behaviors and avoid triggering them."
"By providing training appropriate to those ages, they can help the patients retain longer some of skills they would otherwise lose."
"Patients who had been dependent on aides to dress them could now dress themselves with guidance."
"Infantile reflexes appear in Alzheimer's patients are they decline."

Barinaga, Marcia. "Alzheimer's Treatments That Work Now." JSTOR. American
Association for the Advancement of Science, 6 Nov. 1998. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2897327>.

Alzheimer Research Sources

1. Barinaga, Marcia. "Alzheimer's Treatments That Work Now." JSTOR. American
Association for the Advancement of Science, 6 Nov. 1998. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2897327>.


2. "Behavioral Symptoms Hit Early in Alzheimer's | ALZFORUM." Alzforum, 21 Jan.
2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/behavioral-symptoms-hit-early-alzheimers>.


3. Cohen, Jon. "Memory Implants." Technology Review. 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513681/memory-implants>.


4. Cox, Brian, and Margaret Whichelow. "Smoking and Alzheimer's Disease: An Alternative Hypothesis." JSTOR. BMJ, 1 Oct. 1997. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25568546>.


5. Cutsforth-Huber, Bonnie. ""Love and Music Are the Last Things to Go" Robert S. Cohen
and Herschel Garfein's "Alzheimer's Stories"" JSTOR. American Choral Director's Association, 1 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/23561341>.


6. DEMAKIS, GEORGE. "DISABILITY IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: CAUSES,
CONSEQUENCES, AND ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS." JSTOR. SPAEF, 1 Jan. 2007. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25790710>.


7. Edwardson, Jim. "The Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease: The Number of Genetic Risk
Factors Associated with This Disorder Is Increasing Steadily." JSTOR. British Medical Journal, 8 Aug. 1998. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25180033>.


8. GAINEY, RANDY, and BRIAN PAYNE. "CAREGIVER BURDEN, ELDER ABUSE
AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: TESTING THE RELATIONSHIP." JSTOR. SPAEF, 1 Jan. 2006. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25790690>.


9. Hoyert, Donna, and Harry Rosenberg. "Alzheimer's Disease as a Cause of Death in the
United States." JSTOR. Association of Schools of Medical Health, 1 Dec. 1997. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4598195>.


10. Kolata, Gina. "Researchers Hunt for Alzheimer's Disease Gene." JSTOR. American
Association for the Advancement of Science, 26 Apr. 1986. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1696410>.


11. Marx, Jean. "Preventing Alzheimer's: A Lifelong Commitment?" JSTOR. American
Association for the Advancement of Science, 5 Aug. 2005. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3842573>.


12. Marx, Jeffrey, Sanjiv Kumar, Allen Thach, Tien Kiat-Winarko, Donald Frambach,
Adrian Treloar, Mandy Assin, Alastair Macdonald, Barrett Katz, Nunzio Pomara, Natraj Sitaram, L. Scinto, K. Daffner, D. Dressler, B. Ransil, D. Rentz, S. Weintraub, M. Mesulam, and H. Potter. "Detecting Alzheimer's Disease." JSTOR. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 17 Mar. 1995. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2886714>.


13. Rossor, M. "Parkinson's Disease And Alzheimer's Disease As Disorders Of The
Isodendritic Core." JSTOR. British Medical Journal, 12 Dec. 1981. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/29504608>.


14. S., N. "Experimental Drug Targets Alzheimer's." JSTOR. Society for Science & the
Public, 8 Apr. 2006. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4019180>.


15. Seppa, Nathan. "Stopping Alzheimer's." JSTOR. Society for Science & the Public, 7 Aug.
2004. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4015559>.


16. Speck, Carl, Walter Kukull, Daniel Brenner, James Bowen, Wayne McCormick, Linda
Teri, Meredith Pfanschmidt, Jill Thompson, and Eric Larson. "History of Depression as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer's Disease." JSTOR. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1 July 1995. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3702081>.


17. "Study Suggests Sleeping Drugs Can Increase Risk of Alzheimer's." The Guardian. The
Guardian, 26 Jan. 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/27/sleeping-drugs-increased-risk-alzheimers>.


18. Travis, John. "Ibuprofen Cuts Alzheimer Protein Build-up." JSTOR. Society for Science
& the Public, 12 Aug. 2000. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3981212>.


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Why Alzheimer's Disease

For my semester topic, I was hoping to delve into research on Alzheimer’s disease. A disease that commonly effects the elderly, Alzheimer’s is something close to me because my Grandpa had both Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Being around someone with Alzheimer’s and Dementia can be difficult for family members to grasp emotionally, as the diagnosed person will often stop remembering anything from their short term memory. With the disease worsening over time, they may: forget names of friends and family members, ask a same question multiple times, have difficulty with speaking clearly and formulating sentences, have loss of motivation and hygiene, and also suffer from disorientation.
All of these downfalls are effects that my Grandpa, and the rest of our family, saw during the time of his sickness. On October 31^st of 2014 at the age of 80, he passed away after suffering cardiac arrest. A few days prior, my uncle (his son) had taken Grandpa to a doctor’s appointment and then to a fast-food lunch afterwards. While sitting and eating in the car, my Grandpa starting coughing, spitting up phlegm, and passed out. My uncle then immediately headed for the hospital, running several red lights in the process. Only afterwards did doctors discover that my Grandpa’s heart had been stopped for a duration of the car ride, plus the time it took to get him into the hospital. The doctors resuscitated his heart but this only brought him back into a coma. The severity of this cardiac arrest and the 8-10 minutes his heart was stopped caused great damage to his brain. He was hooked up to a ventilator for tests over several days, and during this time his heart stopped again and again, stroke after stroke. Doctors told us they weren’t sure how long he would live after being taken off the ventilator. They weren’t sure if his brain stem was strong enough to keep his brain alive, even though his organs were still functioning.

Unfortunately, I was not able to be present for any of this. As my family lives in Orange County, California, my home town, there was no way for me to fly back in time in order to say my goodbyes. My mom called me while I was at work and told me everything that had happened. She had been at the hospital for several hours already and continued to stay there throughout that first night. Knowing there was nothing I could do or say destroyed me. My Grandpa ended up holding on for just about three days. I called every day to check in and make sure I was up to date on what was happening. Eventually, my mom was the one to call me and tell me that he had passed away in the night. As peaceful as it was, it was emotionally damaging to me that I did not get to be there with the rest of my family and even more, that I was separated from them and had to deal with the situation on my own.

When I came back home for Thanksgiving break, my family and I held a memorial service at my Aunt’s house. My Grandpa was a singer who modeled his style after Frank Sinatra, and so the theme of the service collaborated all of his favorite things, including his recordings of Sinatra’s records. Hearing his voice sing so happily at his service was hard to hear, but made me think of the good memories. I’ve never had anyone in my family pass away before him and although it was a peaceful passing, I still am emotional over not having been able to say goodbye to someone who had been there all the years of my life.
In this, I hope to find the answer on several questions I have about Alzheimer’s. I want to know more about this disease in general, but I also wonder if it is genetic, if it can be prevented and how it is caused. Because it accounts for so many deaths among the elderly (2010: 486,000 deaths, Wikipedia) it’s a social and medical issue that’s very prevalent today. It’s also one of the most financially costly diseases. Alzheimer’s and Dementia are common in the elderly community and any developed research or change could help the state of these diseases in the future.