Literary Journalism- Alzheimer's Disease

What if one day you woke up in a building you believed wasn't your home? You had on strange
clothes and there were people you didnt know claiming that they helped you every day. Now imagine
that confused feeling every day til the day you die. There is a disease that causes this forgetfulness and
makes its culprit feel like this daily. That disease is Alzheimer's. Alzheimers Disease affects nearly 44
million people worldwide1 . Out of those 44 million, there is a man, Mr. Goldklang, who had a normal,
happy life. My dad was diagnosed a few years ago with dementia. After he fell at the mall last February,
it was changed to Alzheimer's, says Carol Greenstein, Mr. Goldklangs daughter. Greenstein is a mother
of three, an art teacher, and the daughter of an Alzheimers patient.
Alzheimers Disease is developed as a person ages. Alzheimers can be passed down when a
protein called APOE-e4 is inherited by both parents. When Alzheimers patients move into the later
stages of the disease, memory loss becomes far more severe. This can prevent the patient from
recognizing family members, forgetting relationships, calling family members by other names, or getting
confused about the location of home or time2 .
Alzheimers Disease is officially listed as the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States3 .
This disease was named after the doctor who first diagnosed it, Alois Alzheimer. It is a physical4 ,
progressing, and non-curable disease that affects the brain typically in people older than 60. As people get
older, dementia is developed. Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning, thinking, remembering,
reasoning, and behavioral abilities to an extent that it interferes with a persons daily life and activities5 .
When the disease is progressing, proteins build up in nerve cells to form structures called 'plaques and
tangles. Plaques and tangles are abnormal clusters of chemically sticky proteins called beta-amyloid
that build up between nerve cells. This leads to the loss of connections between nerve cells and eventually
to the death of nerve cells and the loss of brain tissue.
There are three stages of Alzheimers Disease. The stages begin with mild, which can last up to
two years. In mild, a patient is more forgetful about conversations and their surroundings and patients
have less energy and motivation to do things. Then comes the moderate stage, which can last up to ten
years. The symptoms include rambling speech, confusion about time or place, mood swings, and having
trouble sleeping. Lastly is the severe stage, which can last up to three years. Symptoms are major
confusion with recent moments, difficulty expressing themselves, difficulty swallowing and controlling
bladder, weight loss, seizures, extreme mood swings, hallucinations, and difficulty moving on their own.
Greenstein says, He hasn't forgotten, but he is confused about his grandkids. The emotion I feel the most
Statistics, 2016 Alzheimer's. "Alzheimer's Statistics." Alzheimers.net. N.p., -. Web. 06 Dec. 2016
Dementia, Alzheimer's And. "Memory Loss and Confusion | Caregiver Center | Alzheimer's Association."
Alzheimer's Association. -, -. Web. 06 Dec. 201
3
@alzassociation. "Latest Alzheimer's Facts and Figures." Latest Facts &
Figures Report | Alzheimer's Association.
N.p., 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
4
Society, Alzheimer's. "What

Is Alzheimer's Disease?" Natasha Judd. -, -. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

5
Alzheimer's Disease

Fact Sheet." National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 09
Dec. 2016.
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is sad for him because this is not the way he would have wanted to end his life. The higher the stage of
Alzheimers the more symptoms occur. The symptoms include: losing items; forgetting where small
things are placed around the house; struggling to find the right words in a conversation; forgetting
someone's name, recent conversations, or events; and/or getting lost in a familiar place or on a familiar
journey. Patients with Alzheimers also start to have trouble in other areas like language, visuospatial
skills, which is the capability to recognize the dimensions of objects (like stairs or parking a car),
concentrating and/or organizing, and orientation6 .
Greensteins father lived with his wife in Los Angeles before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
He had to move to Sunrise in Woodland Hills, which is an assisted living home. He is on the memory
care floor call Reminiscence. Mr. Goldklang is at an unknown stage in the disease and is sadly only
declining. Hes slow, cant remember the day, cant really get dressed by himself, and has trouble
eating, Greenstein says describing her fathers symptoms. There are some treatments for the disease, but
there is no cure. The treatments for Alzheimers can be used for sleeping changes, behavioral changes,
memory loss, and other alternative therapies. However, the treatment depends upon the patient. How
severe the disease is, a patients health, a patients preferences, and a patients lifestyle can all be affected
by the medication. Currently, no treatments are working at this point, as he is 86, says Greenstein.
Greenstein's father was taking a medication called Aricept, which is used to treat mild to moderate
dementia. Aricept improves the function of nerve cells in the brain. It works by preventing the breakdown
of a chemical called acetylcholine. People with dementia usually have lower levels of this chemical,
which is important for the processes of memory, thinking, and reasoning7. Mr. Goldklang used this
medication until it no longer worked for him.
There are currently no cures for Alzheimers Disease; however, there are treatments that can slow
down a patients decline. There are two memory treatments that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approved. These are Cholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine, which can be used to treat symptoms like
memory loss, confusion, and problems with thinking and reasoning. For behavioral changes, there are
non-drug approaches, coping methods, and medications, like antidepressants, anxiolytics, and
antipsychotic medications. Treatments for sleep changes are recommended to be non-drug methods.
Medications include greater risk for falling, fractures, confusion, and lowers the ability to care for oneself.
There are more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimers8 . There isnt a lot people can
do but to hope for science to be more advanced and for a cure to be found soon. Sadly, there are only
medications for this disease, and no cure. 83,000 die from the condition each year9 . My dad tells us every
day he is unhappy. Sorry, I know this is depressing, but there is nothing good here. It is hard, sad, and
terrible on the family.

Society, Alzheimer's. "What Is Alzheimer's Disease?" Natasha Judd. -, -. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.
Multum, Cerner. "Aricept Uses, Dosage, Side Effects - Drugs.com." Drugs.com. N.p., 1 Nov. 2016. Web. 08 Dec.
2016.
8
@alzassociation. "Latest

Alzheimer's Facts and Figures." Latest Facts & Figures Report | Alzheimer's Association.
N.p., 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
9
"Alzheimer's Kills Many More than Previously Thought: Study." NY Daily News. N.p., 06 Mar. 2014. Web. 09 Dec.
2016.
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