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November 9, 2015
RC 2001
Major Issues Essay
Pre-screening for Alzheimers Disease
Alzheimers disease is a degenerative brain disease that as of
right now is incurable. It is the most common type of dementia, and
early symptoms include difficulty remembering recent conversations,
names and events, and sometimes depression. Later symptoms
include things like impaired communication, disorientation, poor
judgment, confusion, behavior changes, and eventually, difficulty
speaking, walking and swallowing. Although research has revealed a
great deal about Alzheimers, much is yet to be discovered about the
precise biologic changes that cause Alzheimers, why it progresses
more quickly in some than in others, and how the disease can be
prevented, slowed or stopped. (2015 Alzheimers Disease Facts and
Figures) However, researchers believe that early detection will be
crucial to prevention and slowing of the disease. Research on early
detection has grown significantly in the last ten years. Before, the
criteria fro testing was evident signs of memory loss; but now that
more is known about how the disease can occur years before the
symptoms begin to show, the new proposed criteria for testing will
accommodate that fact.
and being labeled as someone who might possibly develop the disease
could be detrimental to a career or other opportunities. For example,
an employer might be less willing to hire someone and provide them
with insurance benefits if they know he or she is more likely to develop
a life threatening disease within the next ten years or so. Other
complications have also come about; such as the fact that the test
costs about $4,400, which would not be covered by medical insurance
or Medicare.
"A big problem in Alzheimer's disease and research is that we're not
catching people early enough," Scharre says. "There are hundreds of
thousands of people out there that have symptoms.
(reviewjournal.com) [Not sure where to put this yet]
http://www.reviewjournal.com/life/health/tough-tests-why-getscreened-alzheimers-when-there-no-cure
11.2.15
https://www.alz.org/facts/downloads/facts_figures_2015.pdf 11.2.15
http://www.alz.org/research/science/earlier_alzheimers_diagnosis.asp
11.9.15
https://www.alz.org/braintour/tangles.asp 11.9.15