The Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Psychological Manifestations - Essay Sample

Introduction

There are numerous symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). These symptoms progress slowly with time. Some symptoms appear early, while others appear late at night. The symptoms take three broad categories; the early, middle, and late state symptoms. Additionally, the symptoms can manifest as cognitive, behavioral, on the mood variations, and manifest psychologically. More importantly, the symptoms of AD closely resemble other health conditions. Therefore, medical diagnosis and analysis are critically vital in determining that the symptoms related to Alzheimer's disease. The diagnosis, in this case, involves an examination of the signs concerning the brain structure. With this in mind, the essential area of focus for the topic is the symptoms of AD, and how these symptoms relate to the structure of the brain.

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The early-stage symptoms of AD are mainly cognitive and changes in the moods of a person. The cognitive symptoms include mental decline or loss. According to Lyketsos (2011), the initial symptoms of AD is the inability to remember essential information. The patients exhibit challenges when trying to think, remember, and comprehend issues contrary to the way they usually operate. They tend to ask a lot of questions most of which seem irrelevant. In addition to memory lapse, AD patients may exhibit delusion and confusion, especially during evening hours. The early-stage symptoms also include variations in the mood such as anger, anxiety, loneliness and discontent (Murphy, et., Al, 2016).

The middle-stage symptoms of AD include advancement in memory lapses, behavioral changes, psychological issues, as well as increased mood variations. At this stage, patients exhibit increased memory lapses leading to a situation whereby they cannot recognize basic information. For example, people would fail to remember the names of close family members or places. AD patients may thus get lost as they cannot trace and recognize landmarks. Disorientation, obsession, delusion, and mental confusion are common symptoms of AD at this stage. The behavioral symptoms of AD at this stage include irritability, speech impairment, changes in the personality traits of the person, restless, and wandering that always lead to getting lost. Mood swings, lack of sleep, and depression are also common to AD patients (Quitterer, & AbdAlla, 2019).

The symptoms of AD at the late stages are similar to those of the earlier stages. However, these symptoms tend to be more severe in comparison to those at previous stages. The psychological issues, including depression, delusion, paranoia, and hallucinations, are a common phenomenon to AD patients at this point. Behavioral symptoms may include aggression and violence as the patients become suspicious of their surroundings. AD patients find it difficult to focus on self-care but instead become restless and wander around. Other common symptoms of AD include loss of appetite, eating difficulties, sometimes develop immobility behaviors, weight loss as a result of dysphagia, urinary and bowel incontinence, and severe short and long term memory lapses.

The Relationship Between the Symptoms and the Brain Structures

The symptoms of AD arises from the cumulative effect of the disease on the brain structure, especially at the cellular level. Neurons are vital cells in the brain structure as they aid the communication process in the body. Alzheimer's disease affects the typical performance of the brain structure by attacking the neurons. The condition leads to the loss of synapses in the brain that connects the neurons. Most of the symptoms of AD arises from poor functioning of the brain resulting from the interference of the disease with the brain structure (Hampel, et., Al, 2018).

Alzheimer's disease gradually and progressively destroys and terminates the neurons and synapses in the brain structure, which as critical components of the brain responsible in memory. The parts of the brain structure, such as the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus, are the parts that are profoundly affected by Alzheimer's disease leading to the symptoms (Selles, Oliveira, & Ferreira, 2018). The cerebral cortex in the brain structure plays a vital role in reasoning, judgment, language and communication, as well as enhancing the cognitive and social behaviors of a person. The symptoms of AD that entail cognitive, behavioral and mood swings are a result of the effects of the disease on the cerebral cortex. In a nutshell, the symptoms of AD relates to the gradual progressive shrinking effect of the brain resulting from Alzheimer's disease attacking the brain structure from the cellular level. The symptoms of the disorders such as impaired judgment, memory loss, mood swings, irritability, forgetfulness and communication results from improper functioning of the brain as a result of attacks on the neurons and the synapses (Selles, Oliveira, & Ferreira, 2018).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the symptoms of AD can take three broad categories. These are the early, middle, and late-stage symptoms. These symptoms manifest as insignificant signs and transform gradually as the disease becomes severe. The symptoms can be cognitive such as memory loss, difficulties in thinking and remembering, and impaired judgment. The symptoms can also be behavioral, such as speech impairment, lack of self-care capacity, inquisitive, and mental confusion. Additionally, patients may also exhibit mood swings, agitation, aggression as well as hallucinations and delusions. The symptoms relate to the neurons and synapses structures of the brains. The disease affects these structures of the brain leading to shrinking in the brain capacity.

References

Hampel, H., Mesulam, M. M., Cuello, A. C., Farlow, M. R., Giacobini, E., Grossberg, G. T., ... & Khachaturian, Z. S. (2018). The cholinergic system in the pathophysiology and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Brain, 141(7), 1917-1933.

Lyketsos, C. G., Carrillo, M. C., Ryan, J. M., Khachaturian, A. S., Trzepacz, P., Amatniek, J., ... & Miller, D. S. (2011). Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease.

Murphy, M. C., Jones, D. T., Jack Jr, C. R., Glaser, K. J., Senjem, M. L., Manduca, A., ... & Huston III, J. (2016). Regional brain stiffness changes across the Alzheimer's disease spectrum. NeuroImage: Clinical, 10, 283-290.

Quitterer, U., & AbdAlla, S. (2019). Improvements of Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease by Inhibition of the Angiotensin System. Pharmacological research.

Selles, M., Oliveira, M. M., & Ferreira, S. T. (2018). Brain inflammation connects cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 64(s1), S313-S327.