ing, so Alzheimers often goes unrecognized. There are several stages to Alzheimers Disease. In the early stages people forget recent events, but they clearly remember things that happened many years ago. In the later stages of the disease, people can no longer remember past events and often do not recognize their family members. Some victims do not even recognize themselves. Alzheimers victims often suffer from impaired judgement. They may touch a hot stove burner not remembering that it can burn them. There have been cases where people with Alzheimers Disease nearly starve because they forget to eat for days. When my Great Grandma, who had Alzheimers, was left alone, she would drive from her home in Meade to Hugoton or Satanta trying to find Liberal. The disease can also cause people to be very tired. Patients may also have trouble with place and time. They may not recognize their own home of many years, and they may confuse morning with afternoon. Some patients with Alzheimers Disease will revert back to an almost child-like state. Some of the victims are very angry and aggressive while others are very calm and quiet. How fast the disease advances varies from person to person. Eventually, most people with Alzheimers disease become unable to care for themselves. Alzheimers Disease is not the direct cause of the victims deaths. The disease renders the patients bedridden and in their weakened condition they catch viruses such as pneumonia. Alzheimers attacks few people after age 60, but occurs in 20% of people who live to age 85 (Gillick). Alzheimers does not occur more in men or woman, but the disease is more prone to Caucasian people. Out of all the cases of Alzheimers in the United States, about three-fourths or three million of them are white people. Scientists do not know why this is, because black peoples brain cells are the same as those of white people (Gillick). Some scientists say that Alzheimers Disease i...
