The Effects Of Alzheimer s And Dementia Among Elderly...

Introduction: Alarming statistics project that by the year 2050, an estimated 115 million people globally will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In 2011, the cost of Alzheimer’s care in the United States exceeded $130 billion (Trivedi, Bijal, 2012). Approximately 90% of older nursing home residents are estimated to have a psychiatric disorder which includes Alzheimer s disease (Curlik, SM, et al, 1991). In 2003, the report on the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America, recommended that mental health must be addressed with urgency in light of the prevalence of increasing diagnoses of Alzheimer’s and dementia among elderly populations ( â€Å"President s New†¦show more content†¦Type 2 diabetes is associated with poor sensitivity to insulin. This had led some some researchers to suggest that Alzheimer’s disease may in fact be another type of diabetes (Trivedi, Bijal, 201 2). Discussion: Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the development of plaque or protein deposits in the brain, especially areas associated with memory. Brain neurons collapse, crumble, and lose connections with other neurons which causes disorientation, confusion, erratic behavior, and partial to complete memory loss. (Trivedi, Bijal, 2012). While a poor sensitivity to insulin is associated with type 2 diabetes, some researchers including Dr. Suzanne de la Monte, a neuropathologist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, have suggested that Alzheimer’s disease may in fact be another type of diabetes. If these scientists are correct in their suppositions about diabetes and dementia, immediate and troubling concerns are going to present overwhelming challenges to the medical and senior care systems. Ewan McNay, of the University of Albany in New York states that â€Å"if the epidemic of type 2 diabetes continues on its current trajectory, it is likely to be followed by an epidemic of dementia† (Trivedi, Bijal, 2012). Alzheimer s disease is increased in individuals with diabetes. Higher glucose levels in individuals without diabetes has also been associated with elevated occurrences of Alzheimer s disease. These findingsShow MoreRelatedMental Health Disease Of Alzheimer And Dementia2002 Words   |  9 Pagescombination that is associated with distress and/or impaired functioning† (p. 2333). Mental health has become an increase concern in the vulnerable elderly population across the nation. Two of the major mental diseases that are prevalence in the elderly population are Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Alzheimer and Dementia are both diseases that affect the elderly population across the nation by declining loss of intellectual functioning. 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