Alzheimers Disease: Changes in Graces Cognitive Ability - Essay Example

The information on Alzheimer’s disease, as it appeared on the subject site, was reviewed by Jasmin Luc and published by PubMed, a national library for the medical database. The source is credible because it is a government agency’s publication. This establishes confidence because publications by government agencies are subject to verifications before they are done. National. Alzheimer’s disease fact sheet.

National Institute on Aging. September 2012. Web. November 10, 2012. The resource was published by a national agency, the National Institute on Aging. Its author is not mentioned but the publisher’s reputation as a government agency communicates a high level of reliability of the published information. This is because such resources are subjected to prerequisite verifications before their publication. Diagnosis of her condition as Alzheimer’s disease identifies several factors as possible causes. Her old age, 65 years old is one of the risk factors that could have caused the disease. Genetic factors that could have been indicated by the disease’s diagnosis among her close relatives such as siblings or parents, or the existence of particular genes in her system are another possible set of causes of her changed condition.

Having a reported case of cardiovascular disease or extreme level of mental stress as well as her gender could also have facilitated the development of Grace’s disease. The disease could have therefore independently developed in her or she could have inherited it from her parents through genes (Jasmin, p. 1). Changes in Grace’s cognitive ability included forgetfulness of tasks and procedures, reduced ability to perform duties, and reduced decision-making ability raised her concerns about a possible problem.

Complications that were more serious and that included behavior change, difficulty communicating, deteriorated memory and poor cognitive ability then prompted her medical attention (National, p. 1; Jasmin, p. 1). Even though the disease started with mild symptoms, it gradually worsened to more serious symptoms and adverse effects on the patient. She for example lost her ability to coordinate words into sentences for communication. There was also a significant level of emotional instability as she could easily get angry and overreact to conditions that never bothered her before.

The patient also registered significant memory loss and forgot most of her routine activities as well as the names of her close relatives (Jasmin, p. 1). The applied treatments sustained the patient’s condition by reducing the rate of the disease’s development.