Critical Thinking: Alzheimer's disease video.
According to the status of Alzheimer's disease in contemporary medicine there are no known causes, but speculations are that its etiology may be based in hereditary factors along with the discovery of a blood protein which can be contributory. To date scientists are still working on an evaluation, which is non- neurological for early detection.
It would appear however, that major centers of the brain are affected beginning from the frontal significantly also, the parietal, and temporal lobes; eventually the hippocampus, brain stem and amygdala becoming damaged too. ( Video on demand). Essentially, it can be concluded that Alzheimer's disease affects almost the entire brain since these are the major centers for bodily function.
In the video a case study was depicted whereby a 51 year old woman was affected and ultimately passed. The authors attempted to show a rapid progression and the rate at which brain function declined. These included loss of memory, primarily, speech, sight, and biological functioning of the bladder and rectum.
While this is the course of the disease one wonders how the mind allows such deterioration to occur when it is responsible for regulation of bodily activities and is exclusive of the brain. As such, psychology becomes the study of the mind and not the brain. Initially, there were no medicinal therapy, but with research many experiment are being conducted to postpone the sequel of the condition.
Is there a relationship between brain detorriation and mind instability regarding this disease? Could explanations be derived from psychoanalysis to explain this phenomenon? These are some burning issues facing psychology when disease conditions such as these emerge within the science.
Reference
Video on demand. Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window-cc.html?pid=1587.
