Alzheimer's Disease

In my STEAM class called Disease, we focused on many different types of diseases, how they classify, how they are transmitted, what risks it brings to the human body, and how it alters daily lives. The class and I were taught the systems of the body, the composition of blood, and zoomed in on the background of cancer and how it is treated. For our first Action Project, we had to interview someone about their experience with a disease that they had. I made a patient profile to summarize their medical story. Then, we had to do research on that disease. I felt very tied into this project because it helped me understand what many family members are suffering through, since I am too shy to ask them about it myself.

Since Marissa's main language is Spanish, I was not able to ask her directly about her experience. She also lives very far, so I was not able to visit her either. I interviewed Sam, which went through the experience of seeing Marissa suffer from the disease since 2010.

Marissa’s caregiver didn’t understand why she was acting differently and very aggressive; she was having violent behavior and was ready to confront anyone with attitude and snappy movement. After months of strange behavior, she was finally taken to the hospital and was diagnosed with depression, which is a loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.  The caregiver began to list many symptoms that Marissa had, which was hallucinations, confusion, forgetfulness, not being able to remember many new memories, and often bringing up random thoughts from her childhood and expecting her family members to remember being in that moment with her. Marissa was then also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which is a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. All of this new information was a lot to take in for the family, but Sam stepped in and stood by Marissa’s side in the nursing home everyday. Marissa had to start taking Donpezil, a medicine made for treating Alzheimer’s disease. It treats confusion and may improve memory, awareness, and ability to function again. Marissa was not told by her family that she has this disease. She did not know English at the time, so it was not easy to translate and explain the back story of Alzheimer’s to her. A direct quote from my interview with Sam about this decision of not telling Marissa about her diagnosis is “I think it’s easier to enjoy the present with her when we can keep the conversation light. We don’t try to correct her or make her feel bad. And we don’t want to worry her either. So we try to make sure there’s some congruency between what she thinks is happening and what is true.” The family visited Marissa at the nursing home everyday, making sure she accepted and took the daily Donpezil pills received from her doctor. It was a daily routine to be there for her. The stressful  summer came to an end, and winter came creeping in. The family fell into a workaholic mode, where no one could sadly make the time to visit Marissa everyday. Marissa started to forget about her daily memories, as there were none to remember. No one visited her. Holidays were the only breach of her sparked thoughts. Having the disease caused a big divide between her and the family, as she was constantly living in different time periods and couldn't help herself. She still took her pill everyday, as it was her only habit of the day’s passing by. She did have many bad episodes of memory loss where she would forget about Sam or other family members, or expect them to be able to relate to her childhood memories.

Alzheimer’s disease is a multifactor disease, where it is caused by a mix of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that affect the brain over time. Growing old is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Average people start developing it when they are older than 60 years old. Having family members that have the disease is also a risk factor, as it can be transmitted through genetics in the family tree.

JMP, Nervous, (2018)

Alzheimer’s disease is mainly a disease of the central nervous system, which has the brain and the spinal chord. Brain cells start to die, usually due to progressive age. Amyloid plaques, made up of proteins and dead brain cells, start to accumulate in the brain tissue. A brain protein named tau grows more, which makes brain cells malfunction and die. This results in difficulty keeping a good memory and being able to learn new things. Personality and mood start to swing, n9t having consistent waves. Patients begin to depend on others for basic self care needs. Their interactions with the environment around them becomes unrecognizable.

JMP, Digestive, (2018)

Swallowing difficulties occur in fairly early stages or Alzheimer’s disease. They have difficulty eating with out choking. Also, people living with Alzheimer’s disease have an impaired sense of smell, which changes the way they taste.

JMP, Muscular, (2018)

People with high levels of Alzheimer’s disease often lose their ability to walk  or remain safe posture

in a chair. Accidental injuries start to occur when that have to control over certain muscles when the patient grows old with the disease.

This project made me more aware of the disease. I am glad I picked this disease to do research on. I feel very happy with the information I gathered for this Action Project. I had difficulty getting information from Marissa directly, but I worked with what I got.

Citations:
John, Dr. Tina M. St. “What Body Systems Are Affected by Alzheimer Disease?”LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 14 Aug. 2017
“Alzheimer's & Dementia Risk Factors.” Alzheimer's Association,