Did You Know?......

Source:http://www.alz.org/index.asp

• Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder named after a physician, Alos Alzheimer who first described it in 1906.
• The first case was discovered in 1901 by Dr. Alzheimer in 51 year old woman named Auguste D.
• Alzheimer’s is fatal and the most common form of Dementia.
• Alzheimer’s is a mixture of dementias, it includes a certain type of dementia that · reduces the amount of blood flowing to certain parts of the brain.
• The most amount of knowledge has been developed in the past 15 years.
• The year 2007 entered the history books as the period of tremendous advancements in Alzheimer‘s research.
• Alzheimer’s is divided into two major symptoms:
  
  -“Cognitive”: symptoms that affect memory language, judgment, planning, ability to pay attention and other thought process.
  -“Behavioral & Psychiatric”: affect the way the patients mental abilities and their actions.

Source: http://alzheimers.about.com/od/whatisalzheimer1/a/causes.htm

• Alzheimer’s is thought to be characterized by a buildup of proteins (Plaques & Tangles).
• They block the cells’ ability to communicate with each other, making it difficult for the cell to survive.
• Aging is the number one risk for developing Alzheimer’s.
• One out of eight people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s and one out of every two people over the age of 85 has Alzheimer’s.
• The probability of developing and being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s nearly doubles every 5 years after the age of 65.
• People who have a parent or sibling that developed Alzheimer’s disease are two to three times more likely to develop the disease than those that have no history of it in their family.

Source: http://www.alzheimerscombocare.com/?s_cid=1000

• Approximately 5 million American have Alzheimer’s
• Unless a cure or prevention is found, that number will increase to 14 million by 2050.
• People as young as 30 and 40 have developed the disease.

Source: http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_symptoms_of_alzheimers_disease_000002_5.htm

• alzheimers is often aver looked and diagnosed as natural aging
• alzheimers is often confused with MCI (mild cognitive impairment)

Quotes:

“Scientists are still studying how plaques and tangles are related to Alzheimer’s disease. One theory is that they block nerve cells’ ability to communicate with each other, making it difficult for the cells to survive.”

“Autopsies have shown that most people develop some plaques and tangles as they age, but people with Alzheimer’s develop far more than those who do not develop the disease. Scientists still don’t know why some people develop so many compared to others. However, several risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease have been uncovered.”

Source: http://alzheimers.about.com/od/whatisalzheimer1/a/causes.htm

I only had a maximum of 4 sites because a lot of my sites were supplying me with the same information, so I picked out the four that supplied me with the best and most reliable information.

Foundation Questions...

Foundation Questions based off of my essential question:
"What are the treatment available to help the person and their family that has fallen victim to Alzheimer’s?"

1. How much of the treatment is available? Are nursing homes a better type of treatment for the disease?

2. Where is the treatment distributed, does location affect the amount of treatment one may receive?

3. What treatment is the best, does it depend on the severity of the case?

4. Is there treatment available for the families that would include something like support groups?


What are the possibilities towards finding a cure for Alzheimer’s?

1. What causes Alzheimer’s, what is used to treat it?

2. What are steps being taken to prevent and possibly cure it?

3. Why are the majority of Alzheimer’s victims elderly, what is the youngest age capable of getting it?

4. What are the scientific factors that make the disease incurable?

5. Is Alzheimer’s disease hereditary?

6. Are there ways to prevent the disease?

( I hope to have more foundation questions for the rest of my key terms)

The Best Intern EVER!!!

Sometime last week during the final elective of the day Mrs.Savito pulled me from class and I finally met with Mrs.Peck about my internship!

I was happy to learn that my requests for completing my intern at a nursing home was granted and I would be interning at Cranberry Place.
I believe Mrs.Peck said it was located near Oakland, I am very excited about this because I will get the opportunity to work with elders and I can possibly use that information towards my graduation project.

She noted that there were two other students in my class that were currently completing there interns at Craberry Place, and that if I had any overall questions I was encouraged to ask them. Mrs.Peck also noted that I was going to be focusing more with the elders, unlike my classmates who are on a roatating schdule and move to various sections of the building.

I am very anxious to get started, I just emailed Mrs.Peck my resume like she asked and I am looking forward to meeting my mentor and become the BEST intern they have ever had.

:) :) :) (: (: (:

Clear and to the point???

Today I got through the majority of my "Project Guideline." That's basically just a word document full of my topic, essential questions, and will later include my 10 web sites. I thought it would be smart to get some of my major project concerns down in writing hoping that would make research and finding sites easier.

I am starting to get a little nervous as far as my topic, im starting to wonder whether or not it will make a great project like I want to put forth. Along with whether or not I will be able to make my point of the project clear.

Maybe I should talk to Mrs. Savito to make sure im on the right track and see whether or not my ill be able to get my project point across.

:/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/

I LOVE DOM! <3

Things are looking G.R.E.A.T

Yesterday(Wednesday) and Today(Thursday) have to be the best days of my life as far as my Grad Project. I have finally decided on the topic that i want to pursue and i am very encouraged and thankful for Mrs.Savito's reaction and information towards my idea. I believe that i have found an idea i will excel at because of my intrest level in the topic.
And to make things even better on Wednesday during Grad Class Mrs.Peck pulled me out to discuss my interest for my 3rd trimester internship. She had mentioned some of my previous choices which were all perfect and well, but i had an idea pertaining to my Grad Project that included me interning at an elderly home. She loved the idea, and the fact that i was just working on an email to her and Mr.Kretchman about the very same subject.
Overall things seem to be going well and i am looking forward to getting started, i have even started brainstorming for the action section of my project. I am hoping to pull off a 20 minute documentary of me interviewing families of people who have fallen victim to alzheimers, and possibly a doctor researching the subject. Along with that i plan to volunteer at an elderly facility that may aid people with the disease to better understand what life is like for them. However, i am worried that things may not go as planned and my ideas be impossible due to location or participation.
I think things will go well and i can not wait untill i can figure some new things out and learn more about this disease along with other diseases that cause memory loss.

Some things have come to mind

I have given my grad project alot of spontaneous thought that only lasted for 10 minutes at the most and i have come up with a very broad topic that i think would be great to address. Luckily the topic is health & medicine and there are numerous issues pertaining to that topic that i can pin-point however, i have a hard time making decisions but i look forward to sitting down for an extended amount of time to really make that tough decision.
Since my entry into city high i was dreading the thought of a gradution project, and with that i have over heard that people have actually failed their grad projects and were obligated to return the next fall to redue them. This year out of all the rest, is when the most talk about grad projects is expected but it has mostly been positive seeing how most people are excited about their topics.
Being the younger sister of two brothers, i knew pretty early what i was going to have to do to graduate, and i watched my brother actually build a computer for his own grad project so i was quite ahead of the ball really early on. Nonetheless, this year i actually recieved some very helpful information and advice from friend that will be graduating this year. Though recieving alot of advice from my friend i really was kinda ackwardly thankful for her mistakes, because she warned me about how things could go if you dont follow through with intended plans.
She told me about her previous topics, how it was hard to finally arrive at a topic she enjoyed, and that it was important to make sure you are organized and actually take the project very seriously. Mainly because she knows of a few people who coast themselves through their grad projects and are facing extreme loads of rigorous work that needs to be completed in a short amount of time, and some that will possibly fail.
Like i stated before my main interest are in medicine and health care so i am hoping to find an important structured topic that will make a great grad project.

My grad project could possibly be based on:

• An incurable disease
• Health care/insurance issues in america
• Women that are signifacantly involved in medicine
• Educational facilities that prepare students for work in the medical profession
• Advancement in medical technology

Though i think these topics are great ideas i am worried about the action part of the project and i am not so sure about how i will plan the action portion to where i am actively involved. I am also concerned about my capability of creating and structuring a project on my own, i am very use to being given a rubric and a packet of requirements that guidelines to a reasonable completion so im not to confident on my own.