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Hello! My name is Kolet and my Grandma Elsie has Alzheimer's disease. I’d never heard of this disease before we were told that she has it. To help me remember how to say the name ‘Alzheimer’, Mama wrote it down for me this way: AWLS–high–mur.
I love my Grammy. She would always listen carefully to what I said and
supported me in my interests even if they were a little unusual or odd.
Take
for example my study of the life cycle of cockroaches. Did you know that
they’re older than the dinosaurs and there’s evidence that
they go back at least 360 million years? You have to respect bugs that
have been around for that length of time!
It was natural for me to want to learn as much as I could about Grammy’s disease so that I’d know how to help her. Between the library, the Internet, and the Alzheimer Society Of Saskatchewan, I found out oodles. Would you like to know what I learned about Alzheimer's disease? I thought so! I’d love to share my research with you. It’s arranged in a question and answer format.
This is the list of questions I asked and the answers I found:
- What is Alzheimer's disease?
- What are the effects of Alzheimer's disease?
- What is the cause of Alzheimer's disease?
- Who can get Alzheimer's disease?
- My Grandmother Elsie has Alzheimer's disease. Can my Great Uncle Fred get it too?
- How many people in Canada have Alzheimer's disease?
- Is there a cure for the disease?
- Will everyone get the disease?
- Are people with the disease mentally ill?
- How long does the disease last?
- How do you know if someone has it?
- Do people die from
this disease?
What is Alzheimer's
disease?
Alzheimer's disease is a disease that attacks and kills the cells
of the brain that are known as neurons
(NUR-awhns). As the brain cells disappear,
they are replaced by weird-shaped globs of tissue called plaques.
Thread-like tangles also appear within
brain cells and choke them.
As the disease advances, the work the brain does is affected and big changes occur in the person’s thinking and actions. To make matters worse, people with Alzheimer's disease have a shortage of a special chemical that helps brain cells ‘talk’ to each other.
Our brains get power from the 100 billion neurons that control our actions, thoughts, emotions and much more. Communication between these neurons is necessary. For a message to pass between the nerve cells, it has to jump the gap that exists between them. These gaps are known as synapses (SIH-nap-sez).
How do messages get across the synapses? Tiny electrical signals propel information rapidly through the neuron itself and then special messenger chemicals (neurotransmitters) send the message from one neuron to another.
+
=
Electrical Signal + Chemical Messenger (Neurotransmitter) = Communication between Neurons
What are
the effects of Alzheimer's disease?
The brain is our most important organ and responsible for thoughts,
feelings, memories, and actions. Alzheimer's disease will affect how Grandma
Elsie thinks, remembers, understands, and even speaks. She may come across
as lacking interest and give up some of her hobbies. Grandma may have
trouble focusing and not seem like her old self.
Although Grandma Elsie will not look sick, she may repeat the same word over and over, hide things, accuse me and my family of taking her possessions, act restless and pace, and forget who we are. Later on, she will have problems with eating, dressing, bathing, and walking.
Here
are some ways to think about Alzheimer's disease that may aid your understanding.
Consider a light bulb that is not screwed snugly into its socket. There
will be problems with the connection and flickering will result.
Another
way of thinking about the disease is to imagine a computer that is maxed
out on memory. You can try to input new material but the computer won’t
let you save it because it doesn’t have enough memory.
What is the
cause of Alzheimer's disease?
The
specific cause of the disease is not known. Scientists are working hard
to find a cause so that they can stop the disease from happening and they’re
also looking for ways to improve the lives of people that have the disease.
What
researchers know for sure is that you can’t ‘catch’
Alzheimer's disease from someone. It isn’t contagious like a cold
or flu. Also, just because some person in your family has the disease,
doesn’t mean that you’ll get it.
Who can
get Alzheimer's disease?
Most people who get the disease are over 65 years of age but
sometimes people in their 40s and 50s get it too. Children never get Alzheimer's
disease.
My Grandmother
Elsie has Alzheimer's disease. Can my Great Uncle Fred get it too?
Yes. Men can get Alzheimer's disease too. However, there are
twice as many women as men living with the disease. That finding may have
something to do with women living longer than men.
Alzheimer's disease isn’t choosy. It doesn’t care what race a person belongs to, whether one is rich or poor, powerful or powerless, educated or unschooled, a member of the lower, middle, or upper class, male or female, lawyer or politician, actor or painter, farmer or school teacher. Alzheimer's disease cuts across all lines and can appear out of nowhere.
How many
people in Canada have Alzheimer's disease?
There are approximately 280,000 Canadians over the age of 65
with Alzheimer's disease. If you include other conditions that are similar
to Alzheimer's disease, the number swells to 420,600.
Is there
a cure for the disease?
I wish there was! There isn’t a cure as yet but there are
some medicines that people with Alzheimer's disease can take to slow down
the disease. My family can also help Grammy by giving her lots of love,
making sure she’s safe, and lending a hand as she carries out the
routines she’s used to.
Will everyone
get the disease?
The longer you live, the greater chance you have of getting the
disease but that doesn’t mean that if you live long enough you’ll
get it. Nope! Alzheimer's disease isn’t a normal part of growing
old. It falls under the ‘disease’ category as does cancer
and heart disease.
Are people
with the disease mentally ill?
No. Alzheimer's disease isn’t considered to be a mental illness.
How long
does the disease last?
People with the disease can have it from two to three years up to as many
as twenty years or more. But people with the disease usually live an average
of eight to twelve years.
How do
you know if someone has Alzheimer's disease?
There has to be a change in the way the person acts. Usually
the person has a problem remembering things just said or done (short
term memory) as well as trouble communicating.
There’s a chance that something other than Alzheimer's disease may
be causing these changes. That’s why it’s so important for
the person to see a doctor. Unfortunately, no one test will tell if a
person has the disease. The person may have to take a number of different
tests and be seen by specialized doctors.
Do people
die from this disease?
Yes. Alzheimer's disease is a cause of death for people that
have it. But usually the disease weakens the person and something else
causes their death (e.g., pneumonia - a condition which affects the lungs).
