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Mac Greely

Prof. Hellmers

ENG 1201

26 October 2019

Online Casebook

My research essay will attempt to answer whether or not Alzheimer’s disease is

preventable. I want to know what Alzheimer’s is and how it affects our brain. In addition, I want

to know what we can do to help delay the onset of the disease and hopefully prevent it. I also

want to find out some statistics on how many Americans it affects to show how widespread the

disease truly is.

Alzheimer’s : Can We Prevent It?—Catalyst. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2016.

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1845913&site=e

ds-live.

In Catalyst’s “Alzheimer’s: Can We Prevent It?,” numerous researchers talk about how

they believe Alzheimer’s is 80% preventable. In order to prevent Alzheimer’s, there must be

healthy habits created earlier in someone’s life. This is due to the fact that experts believe that

the disease can start developing up to 20 years before someone gets diagnosed. So, to help fight

the onset of Alzheimer’s, scientists suggest to be more active, eat healthy, and to stay mentally

active throughout adulthood.

The author’s purpose in creating this video is to inform those worried about Alzheimer’s.

This video provides extensive research into the disease and even provides numerous methods to
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help prevent Alzheimer’s based on credible research and statistics. I believe this video was

originally televised in its home country of Australia in order to inform the public. This is a

credible source because I found it in Sinclair’s own library which only contains credible

information and research sites.

I will use the information I have learned from watching the video in order to support my

thesis that Alzheimer’s is preventable. I will also use some of the methods of prevention named

in the video as support for why it is preventable.

“Alzheimer's Disease.” BrightFocus Foundation, www.brightfocus.org/alzheimers.

BrightFocus Foundation put together a very informational website with sections for

understanding Alzheimer’s, caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, and how to live with

Alzheimer’s. There are various ways to help maintain a healthy lifestyle which in turn helps

protect against the development of the disease. Maintaining a healthy diet, brain engagement in

challenging tasks, and physical activity all help prevent Alzheimer’s. While living with it, a

patient should try to sustain all social, mental, and physical stimulation to help delay the onset of

memory loss.

BrightFocus’ purpose in creating this informative website is to inform those who are

affected by the disease. From the caretakers of someone affected to the actual patient being

treated, the website provides avenues of information for the public. This website is credible

because it was developed by an organization whose sole purpose is to help treat and hopefully

cure Alzheimer’s disease.

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I will use this information to further my overall understanding of the disease. Also, there

are several prevention methods that I will use as support for my claim that Alzheimer’s disease is

in fact preventable. Lastly, there is a ‘Facts & Data’ page where I will be able to find statistics to

help prove that Alzheimer’s is a preventable disease.

Alzheimer’s Disease : Prevention and Protection (Part One). INTELECOM, 2015.

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1830711&site=e

ds-live.

This video on Alzheimer’s disease is an interview with Dr. Andrew Leuchter from the

University of California, Los Angeles in which he talks about one of the main factors in

developing alzheimer’s, education. He talks about how studies in animals have shown that the

more engaged the brain is, the more it develops. This translates into education being one of the

best protectors against developing Alzheimer’s. He states that the more education someone has

had, the less likely they are to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

The author’s purpose in interviewing Dr. Leuchter is to get a professional level response

on how Alzheimer’s is connected to intellectual activity. This information obtained from the

interview was then released in video format for the public to see and learn from. Due to Doctor

Leuchter being an expert in his field, his interview is a credible source of information for

research and for public knowledge.

I will use this interview and research to support that education is one of numerous factors

that affect whether or not a patient will develop Alzheimer’s disease.

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Basics of Alzheimer's Disease: What It Is and What You Can Do. Alzheimer's

Association, 2012.

Basics of Alzheimer’s Disease is a small book written by the Alzheimer’s Association

that talks about what the disease is, what are the causes and risk factors, how to diagnose it, and

the different types of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is a disease that is not natural with aging

but instead happens to occur much more frequently in the elderly. It affects the brain by cutting

off specific sections at an increasing rate. One main cause is age due to the brain’s aging as well.

The primary method of identifying the disease is to go to a doctor and have a series of tests

performed to diagnose a patient with Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s Association wrote this informative pamphlet/book to inform those

wondering what the disease is and looking for more research about it. I think that they want to

provide as much research to the public as they can, so they can build a force against it and get

more supporters to help fight it. I know that this book is credible because it was created by an

organization whose main purpose is to fight Alzheimer’s and inform the public of the horrific

disease. They provide the names of scientists who have done the research as well.

I will use the research in this book or pamphlet to further my understanding of the disease

and to provide a few examples of what causes it. These two things will help support my claim

that Alzheimer’s disease is preventable.

Gaines, John. “Early signs of Alzheimer’s disease may be visible in brain scans before

memory loss.” Daily News, Bowling Green, Kentucky. 28 May. 2002: 6A. Print.
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On the 28th of May in 2002, Bowling Green newspaper in Kentucky published a small

section titled, “Early signs of Alzheimer’s disease may be visible in brain scans before memory

loss.” This section that was sourced from Tampa, Florida talks of how new technology had been

recently released. The researchers, who had been working with the University of Kentucky,

believe that this upgraded MRI may be able to detect signs of Alzheimer’s before memory loss

occurs. This research was based on the study of 56 donated brains from catholic nuns.

John Gaines’ purpose in posting this section in the local newspaper is to give the locals

hope that Alzheimer’s can be prevented and detected sooner. This new technology was a big

deal, so the author wanted to inform the public. This newspaper is credible because it is an

excerpt from the original newspaper sent out on May 28th, 2002.

I will use this information to further support my claim that Alzheimer’s disease is

preventable because it proves we have had the technology to detect it early on for almost two

decades now.

Papanek, Holly. Personal interview. 31 October 2019.

Holly Papanek is a doctor who works at a nearby nursing home taking care of victims of

Alzheimer’s and she said that it is one of the saddest things she has seen. Families of the patients

would come in week after week and have to slowly watch their loved one completely forget who

they are. She believes that Alzheimer’s is preventable but that most of the patients did not get the

opportunity to catch it young enough to start creating healthy habits to delay the onset. She talks

of how a lot of elderly people that have developed the disease these days did not have the

opportunity to fight it early on because the technology was not advanced enough to detect it.
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However, she feels like my generation will be affected much differently because we will be able

to detect it as it starts to develop in our brains.

I interviewed Dr. Papanek and I think she told me what she knew because she knows how

much it can hurt a family, so she knows why I am so interested after losing my grandfather to it.

She is a credible source because she is a doctor who treats patients with the disease so she gets to

see firsthand how it affects the families and the patients themselves.

I will use this interview and knowledge gained from it to help support that there will be

ways for my generation to prevent Alzheimer’s as long as healthy cognitive habits are formed

before it starts to develop. This will help delay the onset of the degenerative disease.

“Research.” Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia, www.alz.org/research.

The research tab on the website created by the Alzheimer’s Association has a brain tour

that shows how the brain works and explains what Alzheimer’s does to the brain. Your brain is

made up of about 100 billion nerve cells which make up the neuron forest in our brain. These

neurons use electrical pulses to transport signals from one neuron to the next. However,

Alzheimer’s stops this transference by not allowing electrical signals to travel as they should.

This means that we start to slowly lose parts of our cognitive function because our brain cannot

communicate with other parts of itself.

The Alzheimer’s Association built this website and provided this brain tour in order to

spread awareness about the disease. I believe that they want to inform people and also give

people a place where they can donate money to help fight the disease. This website is a credible
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source because it was created by an organization who specializes in fighting Alzheimer’s and

providing money for researchers to work on curing the disease.

I will use this research and information in my research paper to provide a background on

what Alzheimer’s does to the brain and specifically how it causes memory loss and cognitive

ability problems.