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I am a caregiver;( Certified Nursing Assistant ) and long before it had an official title, I cared for those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, and other related dememtia impaired patients.
I have witnessed all stages of this disease, and it's quite horrendous, especially for those closest.
This disease can be likened to pulling down the shades on areas of the brain, as the amyloid protein builds and envelopes the brain itself.
New advances have come, but we fight for the cure, and ultimate prevention.
Diagnosing this disease has been extremely difficult, and some of the only research has been accomplished via autopsy.
The onset mimics many other maladies, and we need speedier methods of initial diagnosis.
The brain clogs with amyloid protein and shrinks significantly as the disease reaches its final stage.
Research funds have been reduced by the government, thus we must work to continue the battle, and bring victory to our quest in ending this disease entirely, and hopefully arrest the progression in those who are tragically diagnosed.
For some, it is too late ..Others are battling ... Too many long good-byes.
Please donate to the Alzheimer's Association, conduct fund raisers, anything to raise funds for the future, and those now afflicted.
May I also comment that this disease is not exclusively limited to those of elderly status. Young people are being diagnosed, as early as their early forties. Onset in the younger person may be far worse than someone twenty years older.
I recommend a book, entitled
" THE FORGETTING " It might shock you to know just how epidemic early onset
Alzheimer's Disease has become.
I implore you to help us stop the long good-byes.
Thank you.

Noelle Riley
Here is more of a substantial postscript:

Alzheimer's Disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting more than 400,000 people in the U.K. and some 5.5 million in the U.S. The disease has a characteristic pathology, which often appears first in the hippocampus, and then spreads to other regions of the brain. This is accompanied by impairments in cognition, with cell death and loss of connections leading first to deficits in memory and spatial navigation, and then to global dysfunction. The exact cause of Alzheimer's is not known, but a number genes have been implicated. One of these encodes a protein called amyloid precursor protein (APP), which can be broken down into fragments. One of these fragments is insoluble, and when deposited accumulates to form the senile plaques that are characteristic of the disease. It is widely held that this fragment is toxic, and that plaque formation causes cell death.




Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling. --Virgil

In Honor of Dan and Helen

Very near .. and very dear.
These are two of my patients.
One is a young patient, the other is older. However; they are battling.
Each day, more of a struggle.
I think when they smile; it is like a gorgeous sunrise.

About Amyloid Beta and other neurological diseases

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyloid