Jason Capristo

Professor Ingram
UWRT 1102
21 April 2015
The Stand on Alzheimers
Today in society, there are a lot of elderly people that within time, their
health will eventually decline. That is all a part of the human cycle, where we
are born and then we die. However, one of the biggest leading causes of
death in elderly people is Alzheimers. Statistics say that in 2015, an
estimated 700,000 people in the United States aged at 65 and older will die
with Alzheimers disease (Latest).
Some of those that have relatives (like me) that have Alzheimers think
that scientists and researchers are doing everything that they can to slow
down, stop, or reverse the progression of Alzheimers. Some of those same
people, perhaps researchers themselves, may not think that they are doing
enough that warrants the disease to slow down, stop, or reverse the
progression of Alzheimers. With that in mind, the big question is whether
researchers, doctors, and scientists doing enough to slow down,
stop, or reverse the progression of Alzheimers?
Before talking about anything, its important to get a strong
understanding on what Alzheimers is. Alzheimers is a memory loss disability

in which overtime, the patients memory is destroyed, alongside other day to

day functions. This means that they will have to rely on the help of others to
eventually get through the day and through things such as eating and
showering.
A minute away from formalities of a regular paper, my grandmother
has Alzheimers. She has had it for a few years now. Even before the
diagnosis and a year or so after the diagnosis, she was in top physical shape
(for her age). It has only been recently within a few years that she has
gained weight (and gotten diabetes), she has not taken daily walks around
the neighborhood, and just within the past 8 months has she needed a
caretaker every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9-1.
Let me also tell you this: Alzheimers disease definitely impacts a
patients short term memory first. My grandmother will ask you the same
question over and over due to the fact that she will not be able to remember
that she asked you that question. Take this for example: the family took her
license back in May of 2013. Its been close to two years, and even now, she
will still ask where her car is at times. On the opposite end of the spectrum,
her mind works wonderfully with long term memories, as she can remember
stuff that happened years in the past. She can describe some of the
memories right down to the final detail.
A way that I can relate this to you is one that we actually still joke
about today. There was a Christmas quite a number of years ago. This was

when everyone was younger and all of the adults didnt have grey and white
hairs on their heads from children moving or doing anything major. One
night, my grandmother had consumed a few too many chocolate martinis. In
order to relax, she went over to sit down on the rocking chair. When she
wasnt clearly comprehensive, my uncle obtained some Christmas lights from
some place in my aunts house and put them all over her. I can remember
this today, as I was right next to my grandmother. The exact words that she
exclaimed were Lenny, Im gonna kill you. I can personally remember how
everyone laughed about it. This is something I will never forget, partially
because it is pretty embarrassing to her, and because everyone, no matter
who they are, has their own story that is embarrassing about them. Now
when we mention the story to her, she usually just gives off a comment like
Oh whatever, or a comical shrug. It really is funny to see her react again,
time after time.
There are many different things that can help. However, for now, we
will be focusing on things such as vitamin E and some related news that
comes as I write this paper. We will start with Vitamin E. What Vitamin E does
is it protects your membranes from oxidation. Oxidation is the loss/gain of
electrons (Alzheimers Progression). In an easier sense, if you are losing
electrons in your membranes, you will basically have dead brain cells. In fact,
because of this, it has even been recommended that some people
incorporate Vitamin E into their regiment (Harriet Hall).

A new Alzheimers treatment that occurred in mice was made public in

the making of this writing. It is non-invasive ultrasound technology. Out of
the mice that were tested, 75% of them regained their thinking ability back.
The plan after testing on mice is to move the testing over onto sheep, and
then have it progressing to humans by the year 2017.
There is also an herbal substance called ashwaghanda. Ashwaghanda
(better known as Withania somnifera) is a plant that natively comes from dry
regions of India, with some growth inside of Nepal. Some original uses of the
herb are for tumors, stress, and other major factors. This was also tested on
mice. After 20 days of usage, the mice could retain information, however,
when stopping the usage of ashwaghanda, mice started to loose information
just as if they had not taken it (Joseph Mercola, Ph.D.).
Not only is ashwagandha beneficial to those who have Alzheimers, but
also it benefits those who are suffering from any type of memory suffering
disease. Its other health benefits also include fighting other old age
symptoms, such as depression, chronic fatigue, some cancers, and high
blood pressure. (Joseph Mercola, Ph.D.)
It has also been done in research too that by mixing two drugs that
counter Alzheimers, you eventually will make symptoms worse for the
patient, as if you never even took the two agents together.
Besides the study of mixing two agents together, it has been deemed,
especially in tests that utilize mice, that it is beneficial to take anything for

Alzheimers, largely in the fact of how the reversal will work. Eventually,
however, all patients will see a decrease in their mental health.
Before my grandmother took medication of any kind, she was kept
asking the same question forever on end. When she started it, she actually
got better and some symptoms didnt show. Years have gone by though, and
slowly, those symptoms have come back and it has gotten worse than
before. To say though that not using the medication was better off is a
complete lie because if she wouldnt be taking it today, she would possibly
be even worse than what stage she is at right now.
Our family has also implemented other factors as well in order for her
to be as normal as possible. One of those is playing the card game rummy.
This is one of the skills that she still has and she can still kick butt at it too!
Every time you visit her (because she is still living partially independent),
shell casually get out a deck of cards. After that, she tells you to shuffle.
Before you honestly know it, you get sideswiped by her rummy thinking
superpowers.
Also, you might be wondering how come I dont just tell you what
medications my grandmother is on. Not that I would ever want to hide any
information from a reader, but I would rather respect family privacy as well
as keep this writing as neutral as possible. I dont wish to advertise one drug
having more of an effect than another just by writing what she takes and
how it works for her.

With that in mind, I have to say that medication is definitely the

answer. Medication has slowed down the progression of my grandmother. We
noticed early in her Alzheimers stages that when we gave her the
medication, its almost as if she didnt have it. However, of course, she
progressively got worse as time went on, which again is how Alzheimers
works
I definitely believe that researchers are doing enough to combat
Alzheimers, and to slow down, prevent the growth, or reverse it. I believe
researchers are doing as much as they can, and unfortunately it is slow.
However, I dont think that anyone should be discouraged, rather hopeful for
when researchers do come out with it.

Works Cited
"Alzheimer's & Dementia Prevention and Risk | Research Center | Alzheimer's Association."
"Alzheimer's Progression May Be Eased By Vitamin E." New York Times [Boston]
27 Apr. 1997: n. pag. Print.
"Alzheimer's Reading Room." How Do Alzheimer's Patients Die? N.p., 15 Oct. 2014. Web. 16
Feb. 2015.
Hall, Harriet. "Vitamin E for Alzheimer's." Science-Based Medicine. N.p., 7 Jan. 2014.
Web. 09 Feb. 2015. <http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/vitamin-e-foralzheimers/>.
"Latest Alzheimer's Facts and Figures." Latest Facts & Figures Report. N.p., 17 Sept. 2013.
Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Mercola, Joseph, Ph.D. "This Indian Herb May Potentially Cure Alzheimer's Disease."
Mercola.com. N.p., 07 Apr. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Scott, Paula S. "Slowing Alzheimer's Progress." Caring.com. Caring Inc., n.d. Web. 09
2015. <https://www.caring.com/articles/slowing-alzheimers-progress>.

Feb.