Alzheimers Disease Essay Research Paper ALZHEIMERS DISEASEAlois — страница 2

  • Просмотров 390
  • Скачиваний 11
  • Размер файла 19
    Кб

forever. The patient does not want to change clothing, return phone calls, or keep appointments. The patient also does not care anything about learning new information. In the second stage, the patient may not be able to recognize family members, places, people, or events. He or she may not remember anything about the previous day. The patient may also begin to wander about at night while the rest of the family is sleeping. Eventually the third stage starts; by this time, the losses are very obvious. The patient?s walking becomes difficult; he or she may fall and seriously injure himself. Short term and long term memory no longer exists, and words and sentences are repeated. He or she babbles on and at times screams, grunts, or groans. Estrogen is a body hormone all women have.

Waters claims Howard Fillit was the first person to connect the benefits of estrogen with Alzheimer?s disease. Estrogen Replacement Therapy has been proved to fight against Alzheimer?s. However, ERT does have several negative side effects such as an increase in the chances of a woman getting endometrial and breast cancer. A recent study has proved that ERT decreases the chances of getting Alzheimer?s. Waters says although estrogen may be harmful, it is far better than any other drug used to fight Alzheimer?s. Men who take estrogen can benefit the same as women. Testosterone is a normal body hormone in men. The levels of testosterone can be increased and the benefits will be the same because the brain chemically transforms testosterone into estrogen. Waters says Howard Fillit, a

specialist in geriatrics, has been studying Alzheimer?s connection with estrogen since 1984. Fillit tried to get the research world to listen to his ideas, but he was ignored. Fillit began his own study. For six weeks he had seven women take estrogen supplements. Two patients revealed unbelievable progress. It was as though their brains suddenly became activated. Water revealed that Fillit?s results were miraculous; estrogen had given them a better attitude and an enhanced memory. Even after the study was finished, the women stayed on the estrogen at the familie?s request. Alzheimer?s is the leading fear for women fifty years and older. They no longer fear breaking a bone or heart complications; it is whether they will lose their memories. Waters also states that Bruce McEwen, a

colleague of Howard Fillit, has studied the way of estrogen affects the brain?s operation. The study of estrogen was performed on mice with outstanding results. The enzyme level was raised exceptionally. This is great because enzymes are important in recalling information in learning. Wickelgren points out another colleague of Fillit, Victoria Luine, who worked with Fillit at Rockefeller University in New York, helped find the neuron that once deteriorated caused Alzheimer?s. They found evidence that the neuron could be protected by estrogen. Revealed in Bonn?s article, the National Institute on Aging took part in a study of approximately five hundred women, four percent of them were postmenopausal and perimenopausal. These five hundred women were observed closely for sixteen

years. These statistics revealed at the end of this study showed a reduce risk of getting Alzheimer?s for the postmenopausal and perimenopausal. This risk was reduced by fifty percent. This reduction of risk was credited to the use of Estrogen for the postmenopausal and perimenapausal. Neurologist Claudia Kawas believes that ERT will make the neurons involved with Alzheimer?s stronger and hopefully will prevent the illness. Fackelmann says Stanford College performed a study on ERT to see how it enhances ones ability to recall. They wanted to see if it would help Alzheimer victims remember a certain word or name. Seventy-two women participated in the Stanford study. These women were aged between fifty-five and ninety-three and none of them seemed to be senile. At the beginning of

the study, the women were shown six black and white photos of females. Their names were given to the women in the study, and they had one minute to study the pictures and the corresponding names. The results of the test were quite promising because estrogen users recalled thirty-six percent of the names. The non-estrogen users only remembered twenty-six percent. Another simple test was given to these women. The women had a list of everyday words to remember. There were only sixteen words which they had four minutes to recall. This test was not as nearly as promising as the first test. This second test showed a slightly better improvement over the non-estrogen users. The implications of this finding, if real, is tremendous?ERT may confer some protection against memory loss. There