Introduction

In 1901, a German doctor by the name of Alois Alzheimer had a patient, Frau Auguste D., who began developing problems with her memory, speech and comprehension of things being said to her. Over the course of five years she worsened and eventually died in 1906. Dr. Alzheimer was so intrigued by this unusual occurrence that he asked Auguste's family to perform an autopsy. During the autopsy, Alzheimer recognized that Auguste's brain had shrunken dramatically, specifically in the cerebral cortex which pertains to the "memory, thoughts, speech and judgment of a person." Dr. Alzheimer also found dead brain cells and fatty, abnormal deposits in blood vessels. In 1907, a well-recognized psychiatrist by the name of Emil Kraepelin disclosed these observations and declared this brain disorder be named Alzheimer's (Alzheimer's Association, 2007).

Today, Alzheimer's is one of the most common forms of dementia. "Alzheimer's is a disease of the brain that causes complications with memory, thinking and behavior (First Consult, 2007). It brings about complications in a person's ability to perform their daily activities." Alzheimer's is a progressional disease; it begins slowly, with a person forgetting simple, recent things, such as names. As the disease progresses, the person begins to forget things they have known for years, such as family members, friends, speaking, writing, reading, brushing their teeth, doing their hair, etc. (Medline Plus, 2007).

Stages

Alzheimer's disease is categorized into three sections: Early Stage, also known
as Mild, Mid-Stage, also known as Moderate, and Late Stage, or Severe. In the early stage of Alzheimer's a person begins to lose their memory and other cognitive functions. However, the person is still able to care for themselves. Some cognitive problems that develop are: unable to plan, organize, or think critically, trouble concentrating and learning new things, forgetting names and words, unable to make decisions, forget their past or recent events, misplacing important items, getting lost in familiar places, etc. The patient is able to speak normally for a certain time period up to the time of a "memory lapse".

During the early stage of Alzheimer's disease, the person also begins to show problems communicating. They may have difficulty expressing themselves, difficulty understanding what they read, and may respond mostly to emotional reactions and humor (Russell, L.C.S.W., & White, 2007).
Personality changes

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