Every Brain Matters originated in a biomedical classroom at the Ann Richards School For Young Women Leaders; a team consisting of Adeila O.: implementer/ team leader, Vania N.: team coordinator, Zaira R.:monitor. Every Brain Matters was created for the prevention of falls in the elderly which could possibly develop into Alzheimer’s disease.
In the U.S., about 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease and of those, 5.2 million are over 65 years old. Alzheimer’s has a large affect on the brain because of the cells that start to die out, when that begins to occur, a person may experience loss in memories, personality changes, poor coordination, etc. There is some evidence that proves that TBI’s (Traumatic Brain Injuries) can lead to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, so it’s important to prevent Alzheimer’s because of the grand impact it cold have in a family.
People who have alzheimer’s, have their parietal lobe damaged, the parietal lobe is what helps you speak. Alzheimer’s also affects the temporal lobe, which is what allows people to create new memories and to remember their memories. Finally alzheimer’s affects the frontal lobe, damage to the frontal lobe affects behavior and intelligence. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition that destroys the connections between cells in the brain. Eventually these cells die, which affects how the brain works. As cells die in the outer layer of the brain-called the cortex-it shrinks, and the spaces in the brain get larger.
A device that may help prevent a TBI would be either an ankle foot or knee ankle foot orthosis because it helps maintain good stability, which isn’t present when someone has Alzheimer’s. Because coordination and balance is what prevents us from falling, we want to assure that a person feels safe when walking because Alzheimer’s can make someone agitated very easily, so if they don’t feel safe walking, it can trigger fear in them.
A TBI may sometimes be fatal, so someone who has dying brain cells, has to make sure that they prevent any TBI whether it be from falls or having a major impact around the head. So, to make sure that loved ones preserve as much of them as they possibly can, their needs to be a solution/improvement to preventing TBI’s that could develop into Alzheimer’s. With a large amount of the elderly population affected, it’s something that will keep coming back every generation, so while research and clinical trials are performed to try and find a solution to the disease, the only thing that we’re able to do is to try and prevent Alzheimer’s.
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