Preface:
This piece simulates the progression of Alzheimer's disease through changes in the writing style. Each paragraph represents one stage of progression of the disease. The writing is done by this patient who has seen their relatives suffer from Alzheimer's and wishes to inform about the devastating disease. The patient talks about the effects of the disease and then becomes an illustration of the final stages. These range from before the disease develops to the complete loss of sanity and then death of the simulated patient.
Stage 0: No disease effects on the minds capability at this point. The brain is functioning normally and complex thought can occur.
The brain is the most complex system in the universe. It is made up of billions of cells communicating with each other continuously. These cells communicate messages over synapses using small electrical charges. This system is very vulnerable to damage, and any damage done can have dramatic effects on its operation. Alzheimer’s disease targets this set of super fast highways between the cells in the mind as well as these nodes themselves. It damages through destroying the brain’s tissues. It also creates clumps of plaque called beta amyloid peptides. Due to these two damaging actions as well as in the masses of tangled proteins that encase and surround dead or dying cells the brain, which impair the brains information highways even more, the brain begins to swell and increase the pressure inside the skull. It does this as an attempt to fill itself with more nutrient filled fluid from the blood supply to help it try and heal. Overtime this heightened pressure can extra damage to the brain, even though this damage is immeasurable compared to the damage being done by the disease itself. One other problem with this reaction is the fact that it activates immune cells. These cells sometimes reach to the plaques that are building up in the brain. This can cause them to devour brain cells that are in contact with the plaques. This expansion and attempt to heal is only temporary because, once the disease begins to take affect the brain begins to slowly shrink as cells and synapses die and decay. Fluid filled areas of the brain enlarge into regions once filled with living tissue. Eventually enough cells die that the brain cannot function and the person dies.
Stage 1: Pre Diagnosis
Symptoms: slight loss of memory: and slight forgetfulness.
Symptoms: slight loss of memory: and slight forgetfulness.
This process seems quite horrible, and it is. But there is a short list of things that can be done to save yourself from this fate, or at least attempt to delay the inevitable. The first of these is quite obvious. Avoid head trauma. Pre existing damage to the brain gives the disease a good place to start. Another one that is quite obvious is….. UM….. Oh yeah! You need to live a healthy life. Eating well and keeping toxins out of your blood keeps the brain healthy. As well as a healthy diet you should keep your cardiovascular health at a decent level throughout your life, especially as you age and would usually slow down and your heart would weaken. Just simply improving your heart health slightly can reduce your Alzheimer’s disease risk greatly. The most important known reason for this is the fact that your heart will then pump more nutrients and Oxygen to your brain keeping it healthy. There are other relations were cardiovascular health and the health of the nervous system which science has not yet confirmed. Finally, you should continue to interact socially and challenge your mind as you age as much as possible. This causes your brain cells to communicate and keeps them from going dormant. It also causes your brain to suck more oxygen and nutrients from your blood when you make yourself think hard. This keeps this flow strong and keeps vessels in your brain from contracting.
Stage 2: Diagnosed and mid level of advancement
Symptoms: Confusion about place and time; loss of organization of thoughts; inability to concentrate; decreased sentence fluency.
Symptoms: Confusion about place and time; loss of organization of thoughts; inability to concentrate; decreased sentence fluency.
There are several different risks that make Alzheimer’s more likely to affect the system of your mind. The first of these is... DNA… this thing called DNA was just discovered a few years ago and through the magic of science people they have been able to understand it very fast. There are several things that make Alzheimer’s more likely. There is DNA and some great unknown factors such as age and head trauma. Head trauma is very likely to be very dangerous. It can be caused from sports injuries or other knocks to the head. I remember one time I fell off a bridge onto ice. I suffered a hard knock on the head. My dog had to save me. This happened that the winter before we met Bell Heints. She was a nice lady. Her husband passed away several years ago from brain damage. I think the doctors said it was Alzheimer’s. He was very old and weak. This is why he probably suffered so badly from this horrible disease and how it was able to take hold and kill him in only a year.
Stage 4: Advanced Alzheimer’s.
This paragraph will show some of the effects of Alzheimer’s through the style of the writing. There will be no explicitly mentioned information in this paragraph. It is all nonsense. Symptoms you will see will include; deepening confusion about events, time and place; unfounded suspicions about family, friends and professional caregivers; more serious memory loss and behavior changes; and disorientation.
Where am I? What is this I am confused…..OH. Ok. I remember, I think. I must be back in Moscow. There will be snow soon. I need to go to the store and by some seeds. It is almost planting time. That is wonderful, but what is not wonderful, that cat, it just sits there, watching me, it has never moved. It watches me. And that nurse! She is always following me! She must be plotting my death! I have seen her in the kitchen! With a Knife! She just kept cutting, cutting, cutting. She was going; she was walking towards me, taking things off the table and hiding them away in her pants, hoping I will not see! But I do! And I see the snow, it has been melting fast. It looks like it is a beautiful day. I should go out and plant. That would be wonderful. I need my cane, I reached out but it is not there! I cannot move. I am stuck here. I feel old. And tired. I need to get up, and move. But this wall obstructs me. It is in front of me… I can’t get around it… My nurse, she climbs down the stairs. She grabs my sholders and whips me around. There, infront of me is the door. I waled towards it but it comes slowly. I am inside, I lay down. To sleep…
(At this point the simulated patient has gone into a brain dead and comatose state. They would die within several days or weeks. The tissues of their brain have shrunken a massive amount, and they would no longer be able to do the simplest, subconscious tasks at this time. They would die either when their brain stops sending even signals to the lugs or heart or the body simply shuts down.)
