We are currently living in the age of technology. Our advancements in the past few decades overshadow everything learned in the last 2000 years. With the elimination of many diseases through effective cures and treatments, humans can expect to live a much longer life then that of their grandparents. The population of the United States continues to rise, and with the "baby boom" era coming of age, the number of elderly people is rising as well. This increase has brought with it a large increase in diseases associated with old age. Alzheimer's dementia is one of the most common and feared diseases afflicting the elderly community. Alzheimers disease, once thought to be a natural part of aging, is a severely debilitating form of mental dementia. Although some other types of dementia are curable or effectively treatable, there is currently no cure for the Alzheimer variety. A general overview of Alzheimer's disease including the clinical description, diagnosis, and progression of symptoms, helps one to further understand the treatment and care of patients, the scope of the problem, and current research. The clinical definition of dementia is "a deterioration in intellectual performance that involves, but is not limited to, a loss in at least 2 of the following areas: language, judgment, memory, visual or depth perception, or judgment interfering with daily activities." (Institute, 1996, p.4). The initial cause of Alzheimers disease symptoms is a result of the progressive deterioration of brain cells (neurons) in the cerebral cortex of the brain. This area of the brain, which is the largest and uppermost portion, controls all our thought processes, movement, speech, and senses. This deterioration initially starts in the area of the cortex that is associated with memory and then progresses into other areas of the cortex, then into other areas of the brain that control bodily functions. The death of these cells causes ...
