Alzheimer's Disease: Health Crisis and Stem Cell Research
This paper examines Alzheimer's disease as an emerging national health and social crisis in the United States. It outlines the disease's characteristic features, including progressive cognitive decline caused by amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, and discusses the growing financial and emotional burdens placed on families and public healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The paper then analyzes the controversy surrounding stem cell research as the most promising avenue toward a cure, addressing how political and religious opposition led to the 2001 federal ban on publicly funded embryonic stem cell research. Finally, it highlights emerging alternatives, including umbilical cord–derived stem cells, as a potential path forward.
- Introduction: Defines Alzheimer's disease and its growing prevalence
- Alzheimer's as a Twenty-First Century Health and Social Crisis: Financial and emotional burdens on families and public programs
- Controversy Over a Likely Approach to Effective Treatment: Stem cell research promise versus political and religious opposition
- Conclusion: Calls for lifting research restrictions to find a cure
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper establishes a clear thesis early, linking demographic trends to a worsening health crisis and directly connecting the proposed solution (stem cell research) to political obstacles.
- It balances quantitative evidence (incidence statistics, age-risk data) with qualitative impact (the emotional toll on families, the "long goodbye" framing) to make the argument both data-driven and humanizing.
- Direct quotations from medical researchers and religious commentators are used strategically to represent both sides of the stem cell debate, giving the argument credibility and fairness.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of counterargument and concession. Rather than dismissing religious opposition outright, it acknowledges that some conservative voices have supported umbilical cord stem cell research, then uses that concession to strengthen its broader point that political restrictions on embryonic research remain an unnecessary barrier to progress.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a classic five-part structure: an introduction defining the disease and its scope, a thesis statement presenting the central argument, a body section detailing the social and financial dimensions of the crisis, a second body section examining the stem cell research controversy, and a conclusion synthesizing the key claims. The two body sections address the "what" and the "why it matters" before turning to the contested "what should be done."
Introduction
Alzheimer's disease is one form of age-related dementia, previously more often referred to collectively as senile dementia. It is characterized by gradually increasing mental deterioration and corresponding loss of memory, cognition, judgment, and the ability to communicate. The disease is named for the German physician who first identified it in 1906 by discovering abnormal amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in brain tissue. Today, modern imaging technology is used to diagnose these characteristic brain changes associated with Alzheimer's (NIA, 2006).
Those of advanced age are primarily at risk of Alzheimer's, and scientists believe that as many as 4.5 million Americans are presently afflicted with the disease. Between the ages of 65 and 85, the incidence of Alzheimer's increases dramatically, from approximately 5 percent of the population to almost fifty percent (NIA, 2006). Unfortunately, those figures are expected to rise continually over the next several decades, driven by the increasing average age of Americans as the post–World War II Baby Boom generation advances into the age range where the risk of Alzheimer's increases substantially.
Thesis: Alzheimer's disease is quickly becoming a national health and social crisis by virtue of the increasing age of the population and the fact that the average American now lives long enough to be at risk of late-onset dementias. Stem cell technologies may offer the most realistic hope of a genuine cure, but conservative political opposition has severely constrained scientists' ability to develop effective treatments.
Alzheimer's as a Twenty-First Century Health and Social Crisis
The increasing incidence of Alzheimer's is now one of the most serious financial drains on the American healthcare system. Patients typically survive as long as a decade after the onset of symptoms and almost invariably require at least several years of institutionalized care in long-term medical facilities and nursing homes. This is attributable to the tremendous amount of assistance they eventually require after losing virtually all cognitive abilities, including those necessary for the simplest everyday tasks.
By the late stages of Alzheimer's, the demands of providing full-time care surpass the ability of families to manage on their own, after which they must rely on funding assistance from Medicare and Medicaid. All too often, elderly patients who saved throughout their lives in hopes of leaving an estate for their families have no choice but to first "spend down" all of their financial assets in order to become eligible for public assistance programs.
Nevertheless, some of the greatest costs of Alzheimer's are not measured in dollars but in the prolonged emotional agony experienced by the patient's loved ones. Because the disease develops so slowly, caretakers often find themselves gradually drawn deeper into caring for a family member as that person loses all capacity for communication and even for recognizing their own family. For this reason, Alzheimer's has been called "the long goodbye."
Conclusion
Alzheimer's disease is a devastating and debilitating illness associated with age-related dementia and cognitive decline. It has become one of the most serious medical, public health, and social issues of the 21st century, affecting more and more Americans every year as the average age of the population increases. Embryonic stem cell research remains the most likely avenue toward an effective cure, but political opposition has limited scientists to alternative approaches — to the detriment of millions of patients and their families. In time, it is hoped that common sense will prevail; in the meantime, the best chance for an effective cure lies in other forms of stem cell research.
References
Kinsley, M. Commentary: Why Science Can't Save the GOP. Time Magazine (December 10, 2007), p. 36.
Phan, K. (2008). Umbilical cord stem cells slow down Alzheimer's progression in mice. Christian Post Reporter. Retrieved July 26, 2008, from
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging. (2006). Alzheimer's disease fact sheet. Retrieved July 26, 2008, from http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Publications/adfact.htm
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