A Study of Alzheimers Disease Alzheimers Disease is one of the most common diseases among elderly people today. Alzheimers creates emotional and financial catastrophe for many American families every year. It affects nearly 4 million people in the United States. Alzheimers Disease is the fourth leading cause of adult death in the United States, and nearly 90 billion dollars go towards Alzheimers research each year, most of this money is funded largely by Medicare and Medicaid, but the government funds some (Medical). Many elderly people are thought to be crazy, people think the strain of their lives has been too much for their minds, when in fact the real problem may be a serious condition called Alzheimers.Alzheimers Disease is a degenerative brain disease. It is caused by a slow break down of the brain cells. Alois Alzheimer, a German physician, first discovered Alzheimers Disease in 1906. The first recorded case of Alzheimers Disease was a 55-year-old woman. She was admitted to the mental asylum where Alzheimer worked when she was 51 and slowly deteriorated over her 4 years there. After her death, Alzheimer performed an autopsy in which he found a small, shrunken brain. This was the start of Alzheimers research. Since its discovery, Alzheimers Disease hasnt evolved much. Its much more common now and the symptoms are slightly enhanced, but the disease is relatively the same. The number of people with Alzheimers Disease is expected to increase dramatically as the baby boomers age (Davis). Some scientists believe that Alzheimers Disease may be caused by a mutation of a gene on chromosome 14, this mutation is related to about 8% of all Alzheimers cases (Alzheimers). Alzheimers patients also have an excess of aluminum in their brain tissues, which is linked to the disease and they lack hootropic agents, the chemicals that protect the brain cells. The early stages of the disease are often viewed as the consequences of ag...
