Zero Draft

Throughout my research, I learned the many ways of preventing and even potentially obtaining Alzheimer’s disease. I found many studies considering genetics and heredity as a heavy component to the disease as well. There is not necessarily a cure or a treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s which makes these topics common to study. However with all of this, I feel that I failed to find more sources that asked more in depth questions about the potential treatments and social issues concerning the disease.

Starting with caregiver abuse and neglect in senior living quarters (I had one source on this), I have to ask myself what the legalities are when it comes to assisted living homes and the protocol for dealing with those who have Alzheimer’s and dementia. I would be really interested to study any state or Supreme Court cases that deal with neglect in senior living and their commonality in society. The relationship between caregivers and patients intermixed with stress and hallucinations would be an interesting topic of study. I had a couple articles on emotions, behavior, therapy, and medication.

Behavioral therapy and techniques to overcome the challenges and struggles of dementia and Alzheimer’s was a clear theme in my research and proved to be one of the most successful studies in dealing with the disease. By returning the patient to a rehabilitation stage of learning a certain area of basic skills, patient’s Alzheimer’s side-effects slowed and many of their everyday skills stayed intact.

Another source I found was an article on a musical inspired by the Alzheimer’s disease and the effect the disease has on patient’s and family member’s emotions. I found it interesting that even Alzheimer’s is connected to society by art and was hoping I could delve more into that subject and see what other art pieces are linked.

With Alzheimer’s disease, elderly people are not able to pay bills, upkeep personal hygiene, or even cook for themselves and not many service projects or awareness in the communities across the nation address this issue. These people can become homeless if no family member takes care of them or any home care is provided for them. Elderly persons with diseases and no money for care is a serious social issue in itself.

The themes I have really noticed in my sources and my research is the neglect and lack of attention this disease has from the community and the public. With people literally losing their minds, memories, capabilities, and lives, I feel like that Alzheimer’s disease is not something commonly known or supported in society. The amount of money that goes in senior care and the things caregivers have to do should be more publicized. The emotions of these patients and family members are something that takes heavy precedence in the disease. With this being said, finding a safe place for people of this disease and looking deeper into what senior care looks like for those with AD would be, personally, a serious area for research.

20. "Genetics Of Alzheimer's Disease"

Summary: This study sheds light on the idea that Down's Syndrome, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease may have related neuropathical changes.

Key Facts:
"While there are many studies establishing the validity and reliability of clinical assessment in the distinction between Alzheimer's disease and other causes of prehensile dementia."
"This is particularly relevant to the problem presented by patients over the age of 60 when Alzheimer's neuropathological changes may be present without clinical evidence of a dementia."
"Universal development of Alzheimer's neruopathological changes in Down's syndrome and erroneously links this with a report of six cases of Down's syndrome among the 777 relatives of 30 patients with AD."
"When chromosomal abnormalities have been directy observes in AD they are indistinguishabble from those seen with aging and are not specific for AD or related to any abnormality or chromosome 21."

Whalley, L. "Genetics Of Alzheimer's Disease." JSTOR. British Medical Journal, 22 May
1982. Web. 29 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/29506546>.

19. "Untangling the Brain"

Key Facts:
"An enzyme prevents brain cells in aging mice from developing knots of proteins resembling those that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease."
"Most neuro-scientists favor the hypothesis that beta-amyloid triggers the brain-cell loss in Alzheimer's disease, but some argue that tau is equally, if not more, important."

Travis, John. "Untangling the Brain." JSTOR. Society for Science & the Public, 2 Aug. 2003. Web.
31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3982185>.

18. "Ibuprofen Cuts Alzheimer Protein Build-up"

Summary: In so much technical jargon, Travis summarizes the beta-amyloid protein. When this protein fragment builds up, Alzheimer's is directly related and a probable outcome of this build up. The way ibuprofen affects the brain could fix these build ups and ultimately change the way Alzheimer's is related. It would be able to protect the brain and potentially fight against Alzheimer's.

Key Facts:
"A leading theory proposes reducing in-brain buildup of a protein fragment known as beta-amyloid."
"Ibuprofen, the common nonprescription drug, may lessen abnormal accumulation of beta-amyloid." "While this finding supports previous data indicating that ibuprofen and other nonsterodial anti-inflammatory drugs slow or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease, researchers say it also open up a new way to think about how ibuprofen protects the brain."
"There's plenty of evidence that inflammation within the brain, prompted by amyloid deposits, activates immune cells and elicits harmful substances that destroy nerve cells."

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>.

17. "Study suggests sleeping drugs can increase risk of Alzheimer’s"

Summary: The Guardian online describes sleeping medications and they could be linked chemical possibility and cause of some cases of Alzheimer's. The study shows that different drugs with the chemical transmitter acetylcholine block the nervous system and could ultimately lead to permanent damage in the long term. The chemical transmitter is being studied and is thought to be directly linked to cases of Alzheimer's disease.

Key Facts:

"The sleeping medication Nytol and anti-allergy pills Benadryl and Piriton all belong to a class of drug highlighted in a warning from researchers."
"Anticholinergic drugs block a nervous system chemical transmitter called acetylcholine, which can lead to side-effects including drowsiness, blurred vision and poor memory."

"The scientists tracked the health of 3,434 men and women aged 65 and over for around seven years while monitoring their use of anticholinergic drugs. Of those, 637 developed Alzheimer’s and 160 were afflicted by other forms of dementia."

"People with Alzheimer’s disease are known to lack acetylcholine."

"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/sleepi ng-drugs-increased-risk-alzheimers>.

16. "History of Depression as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer's Disease"

Summary: Speck says that if a person has deep rooted depression, there is a high risk that chemical imbalance will affect the possibility of getting Alzheimer's as a result. However, as a rebuttal, the study did find that if patients with AD did not have depression within 10 years prior of being diagnosed, the risk and rate of getting Alzheimer's was not directly correlated.

Key Facts:
"Depression sometimes coexists with Alzheimer's disease and may cause difficulty in diagnosis in the early stages of AD."
"Depression could be the result of chemical changes in the brain; medications have been developed that modify brain chemistry and alleviate depression."
"For depression reported to have occurred 10 or fewer years before the reference year, and for 'depression limiting activities,' we found little or no increase in risk for AD."
"The finding the depression occurring 10 or more years before the onset of AD increases the risk is generally consistent with earlier studies that found a positive association between AD and depression."
"Among more aged persons, the experience of loss and grief is likely to be more common and may activate normal coping mechanisms. Occasionally, however, persistent major depression may follow these grief reactions."

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>.

15. "Stopping Alzheimer's"

Summary: By pursuing the idea of injecting antibodies into Alzheimer's patients in order to attack amyloids that cause issues, it's possible that if these vaccines are administered early enough in the disease, the antibodies can attack the disease and prevent it.

Key Facts:

"Now, scientists working with mice report that antibodies tailor-made to attack amyloid can wipe it out and reverse an experimental version of Alzeimer's disease if the intervention begins early enough."

"The course of events suggest that there is an ongoing cycle of manufacture and disposal of amyloid in the brain, and that this cycle becomes imbalanced in Alzheimer's patients."

"Even so, the vaccination might have had some benefit. Swiss researchers reported at an Alzheimer's meeting in Philadelphia in July that some patients who had been given the vaccine developed high antibody concentrations. Two years after receiving injections, these people showed less cognitive decline than did patients who had received inert injections."

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