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Alzheimer's A Progressive And Fatal Disease Of The Brain

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According to Alzheimer.net, forty-four million people, worldwide, are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In the United States, one out of nine people over the age of 65 are diagnosed with this disease, and it ranks as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Two out of three people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are women. Five point three million dollars are depleted every year from citizens diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is “a progressive and fatal disease of the brain” (Lu & Bludua, 2011). This brain disease leads to deterioration of the brain, which leads to dementia. Dementia is the “loss of memory and mental abilities severe enough to affect the daily life” (Lu & Bludua, 2011). It begins at the memory control …show more content…

The cerebrum is situated at the back of the brain. The cerebrum is divided into two cerebral hemispheres, left and right. It consists of the corpus, callosm, and nerve fibers. The left and right hemispheres communicate with each other. The brain stem “connects the brain to the spinal cord” (Lu & Bludua, 2011), which regulates the body. The cerebellum is positioned beneath the cerebrum. It manages a person’s equilibrium and coordination.
According to Lu and Bludua, the outer layer of the cerebral hemisphere is called the cerebral cortex, which is the outer layer of the brain. Under the cortex is the limbic system, which consists of the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, and hypothalamus. In the temporal lobe, the amygdale purpose is to store and process strong feeling such as fear. Behind the amygdala is the hippocampus, which channels making memories and learning into short term memory. Then short term memory converts into long term memory. On the top of the brain stem is the thalamus. The thalamus is the “central processing center of the limbic system” (Lu & Bludau, 2011) which accumulates, processes, and distributes limbic and sensory information to the cerebral cortex. Beneath the thalamus is the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus maintains homeostasis and the body’s equilibrium. To keep the system at a set point, the equilibrium monitors body temperature, blood pressure, body weight, fluid

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