Course material

1. A Look at the Medical and Social Aspects of Alzheimer’ s
Alzheimer’ s disease typically afflicts patients during the later years of their lives, and is
most commonly associated with a general loss of cognitive function. For example, there is
often progressive memory loss and a general decline in the patient’ s ability to reason, solve
problems, and maintain an even emotional keel. Recent research has led to speculation that
as many as 80% of all Alzheimer’ s cases are genetically transmitted, although
environmental factors can lead a patient to contract the disease and also may influence how
quickly the patient develops symptoms (Alzheimer’ s disease may, 2006). Genetically-
linked Alzheimer’ s is transmitted in an autosomal dominant mode, which means it is not
sex-linked and it will develop even in if the gene is heterozygous (Mullan, et.al., 1995 and
Tanzi, 1999). In short, Alzheimer’ s can be expressed when genes are either homozygous
dominant or heterozygous dominant. A number of things occur in the brain that cause a
person to develop Alzheimer’ s symptoms. Many Alzheimer’ s patients experience a sharp
decrease in the production of acetylcholine, a key neurotransmitter, and over-production of
the protein B-amyloid, which can cause obstructive neuritic plaques to form (Alzheimer’ s
disease, No date). Alzheimer’ s patients also may experience brain deterioration related to
aging, such as neuron or snynaptic loss, which can impair cognitive and neurological
function (Alzheimer’ s disease, No date). Generally speaking, the phenotypes of
Alzheimer’ s relate to a loss of cognitive function, although there can be strong
psychological and physical components. According to the Mayo Clinic, which has researched
and treated Alzheimer’ s extensively, the 10 warning signs for Alzheimer’ s are memory
loss; difficulty performing familiar tasks; problems with language; disorientation related to
time and place; poor or impaired judgment; problems with abstract thinking; frequentl…