Kendelle+G’s+Final+AmEx+2014+Speech

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Alzheimer's = = =Text of Speech=

Alzheimer's is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and as of now, there is no cure to fight it off, only a number of medications prescribed that help slow the process. A person with Alzheimer's has a decreased amount of neurotransmiters in his or her brain. These neurotransmiters are what allow brain cells to communicate with each other. The only way to definitively diagnose a person with Alzheimer's today is by a thorough brain tissue examination after death. In this examination, the scientists look for specific plaques and tangles in the brain. These plaques, believed to be connected to Alzheimer's, are formed when a series of proteins clump together which in turn blocks synapses inside the brain. The tangles are formed of twisted protein fibers which normally aid in the transportation of nutrients in brain cells, but when they become tangled the cells no longer receive the key nutrients they need and die. However in order to diagnose a person still living with the disease, doctors can perform a series of memory tests and brain scans to get a pretty good idea on the patients brain condition. Although the plaques and tangles are most common in patients with Alzheimer's, there is not just one answer to what causes the disease, but a number of differnt things compiled together.

As a child I jumped at the opportunity to spend time with my grandmother. An unlimited supply of food, tv whenever I wanted, no parental monitoring and no naps! What toddler could possibly resist that, right? She would spend hours telling me stories from her childhood through her thick french accent. Stories of their family trips to the beautiful countryside just on the outskirts of Paris and countless memories of tending to her parents garden alongside her sisters. However, ten years have passed and now my grandmas memory has began to fade. She has trouble completing simple day-to-day tasks like cooking, cleaning and the like. She can no longer recall specific details of her recent life. She can no longer recall the death of her husband, 20 years ago. And every time she sees my sister or I she constantly has to ask us for our names. We try to be patient with her and respond, "It's Kendelle and Morgan, mama" and often times she will reply with a simple smile and nod, but more than once, a pool of tears has welled up in her eyes upon hearing our names knowing for a split second she had completely forgotten.

My grandma is not the first family member I have witnessed suffer through this disease. The majority of my moms side of the family lives in Bakersfield and every couple years someone decided it was a good idea to have a family reunion of some sort. Each time we visited, we always stopped by an assisted living home before departing in order to visit my great grandma. Something about that place made me dread our trips to Bakersfield altogether. It wasn't the countless older women sitting motionless in wheel chairs, or the smell of sterile rooms or even the man who always stood in the corner of the hallway mumbling to himself with drool seeping down the corners of his mouth. What made me dread that place was actually seeing my great grandma. Seeing her stare blankly back at my family and I. Seeing her confusion upon our arrival, wondering who we were and why we were there to see her. It was even more painful to see the way she looked at my grandpa, her own son. She had no recollection of who he was and even his name did not register in her mind. At the time I could not fully understand what was happening to my great grandma or why we had to explain who we were every time we saw her. I only saw the end of the terrible disease and how it severely ravaged her mind and body, and eventually took her life.

Now that I'm older, I have a better understanding of what was happening and why she acted as though she had never met us before. But, now that I know what happened to my great grandma, I know what is in store, all too soon, for my grandma. For now it is mainly names, dates and details that my grandma forgets but soon I know it will be more than my name she forgets, eventually I know she won't be able to remember who I am or even who she is.

In the America I hope to grow old in, there will be disease, however I wish to see cures to wipe it out at the first sign. I hope that in the future America, no family will have to suffer beside a loved one fighting to retain memory. I hope sons and daughters won't have to witness the steady deterioration of their parents. I hope in my own later years or life, I will be able to remember the fulfilling life I lived and all the wonderful people in it. In the America I wish to grow old in, I want to see less Alzheimer's and more memories.

Thank you

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