Introduction
Alzheimer’s disease is defined as an unalterable, progressive brain disorder linked to changes in nerve cells which lead to the death of brain cells. Aging on the hand can be defined as the accumulation of different harmful changes in the tissues and cells that raises the possibility of disease and death. Dementia is mainly caused by Alzheimer’s disease and is mainly experienced in the brain. Alzheimer’s disease is typified by intra-neuronal fibrillary tangles, cell loss and plaques which are typical characteristics of the aging process. Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed in adults of any age but common among persons aged above 65 years. Almost 77% of the people with Alzheimer’s disease are age above 75 years. (Rosenthal et al, 2001)
Ageing always result in changes in the cognitive abilities which consists of changes in the memory and other intellectual functions and the magnitude of the change varies widely. “At its early stages, Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the inability to recall things observed recently” (Hayflick, 2000). As the disorder progresses, the symptoms also advances to include loss of memory for longer periods of time, changes in moods of the victims, confusion and the victim also tends to avoid people due the decline in their senses (Hayflick, 2000).
How has current research in Alzheimer’s disease advanced our understanding of the aging process?
Alzheimer’s disease which is a neuro-degenerative disorder is costing a lot to the society and as the number of persons aging increases, these costs also increases. The number of young people working is low and this result in less economic support to the increasing aging population. Alzheimer’s disease robs the community of wisdom and expertise as well as the deprive one of his/her sense of self (Tanzi, 2005). The disease is also a serious type of weakness which is characterized by the disorders in memory, continual and perceptional abilities and cognitive functioning. The high cost of neuro-degenerative illnesses amongst the middle-aged adults’ calls for immediate detection and treatment of the disorder as it is difficult to assess the effects of this disorder at later stages especially when one is very old. (Rosenthal et al, 2001)
The process of Alzheimer’s disease development takes three stages with early stages appearing amongst the young persons, while the more advanced symptoms appear amongst the old population. The formation neuro-fibrillary tangles which is a characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease is said to be dependent on the ageing process while dementia development is associated with the continuation of intra-neuronal changes (Hayflick, 2000).
Aging unlike disease occur in an individuals after a given period of time, it occurs in all the species after the age of reproduction and occurs also in animals removed from the wild by people even if it had never experienced ageing.
Research on Alzheimer’s disease has cleared the misunderstanding that was there between aging and age-related diseases and this notion had been an obstacle to funding of research related to the aging process as everybody believed that there is no one who can die from aging. Many people belief that old people die after suffering from a disease yet such deaths are caused by diseases which are brought about by old age. (Hayflick, 2000).
The findings, published in the April 12th 2009, issue of the News Wise indicates that development of Alzheimer’s disease is mainly associated with age and that people aged above 65 years are the major victims of the disorder and the number is increasing after every five years. In developed countries, highest number of deaths is reported from the elderly people. Research on Alzheimer’s disease can help determine what causes death in the absence of diseases. From the research, it was found that such deaths resulted from extreme loss of physiological capacity resulting from increasing disfunctioning of essential organs in the body (News Wise, 2009).
Conclusion
The study of age-related disorders and manipulation of biological development at early stages of life has dominated the field of aging research. This has been attributed by the research done on Alzheimer’s disease which is linked to aging. Funding of research related to aging has now improved as statics show that the population of the aged has increased tremendously. The research has also provided ways of dealing with age related disorders apart from Alzheimer’s disease The re research has helped in dealing with other disorders related to old age and this has increased the population of the aged (Hayflick, 2000).
References
Hayflick, L., (2000).Longevity Determination and Aging, Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 408, 37-39.
News Wise. (2009).Delaying The Aging Process Protects against Alzheimer’s. 5th St. SW, Suite 100, Charlottesville VA 22903. Web.
Rosenthal, R., Zenilman, M. and Katlic, M. (2001).Principles and Practices of Geriatric Surgery. New York, NY, Springer-Verlag.
Tanzi, R. and Bertram, L. (2005).Twenty Years of the Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid Hypothesis:A Genetic Perspective. Harvard Medical School. 120(4):545–555.