Alzheimer's Disease

Global Health Issue

 

Learning Objectives

• The Causes of Alzheimer's
• Symptom's of Alzheimer's
• Stages Alzheimer's
• Facts about Alzheimer's

Background Summary

      





Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning. Symptoms of Alzheimer's  usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks.  Although the greatest known risk factor is increasing age, Alzheimer's is not a normal part of aging. The majority of people with Alzheimer's are 65 and older. However, Alzheimer's is not just a disease of old age. Up to 5 percent of people with the disease have early onset Alzheimer's which often appears when someone is in their 40s or 50s. 

     Alzheimer's is a progressive disease. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Alzheimer's has no current cure, but treatments for symptoms are available and research continues.

 

Relevant Readings

www.alz.org- Alzheimer's Association
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/alzheimers-dementia/alzheimers-disease.htm#stages

www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers

www.alzfdn.org/aboutalzheimers

 

Visual Component

 

 

 

 

 

 


BBC Documentary; Mum and Me. Alzheimer's Part 1/4

 

 

 

Assessment;

 

1. List the stages of Alzheimer's and explain it's effects on an individual.

 

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2. List 4 facts about Alzheimer's that have recently been shared in the media or the medical field. 

 

 

 

3. Using what you've learned about Alzheimer's create a person who is diagnosed with the disease.  Explain their beginning symptoms, their age, their gender, what stage of the disease they are presently in and two specifics facts about the disease and how it is effecting their life. 



Good News For the Grey Wolf

The Grey wolves have been on the endangered species lists since late 19th century until around 1967. Bounty hunting was so wide spread that it wiped out the wolf population in 48 states with the exceptions of northeastern Minnesota and lsle Royal, Michigan.

      The Rocky Mountain was the first site for recolonization of the wolves in the early 1980s. The wolves were reintroduce to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s. By the year 2006 the population increased by 134 wolves and another 1,300 by 2009.  Washington and Oregon both reported wolves returning in the year 2005.

    The endanger wolves did create some controversy between the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and Congress. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the northern Rockies gray wolf in 2008, but decision was overturned after conservationists who argued that the recovery plan goal was outdated.  This was the first time in the Endangered Species Act, that Congress overruled the courts and the delisting of the Northern Rockies Gray Wolves.

    Hunting guidelines are in place in all of the regions where wolves live and breed.  Each state has it's limit for public harvest and is monitored closely.

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