The Effect of Alzheimers on the Family

How Others React to the Diagnosis

It is very important to remember that despite your diagnosis you are still the same person that you were before. It can be common that, after you share your diagnosis with those around you, that they don't know how to respond. 

Some people may be intimidated and shy away, while many other could possibly be very keen to be supportive. It may damage your relationship with people you once considered to be close friends. People close to you may now feel uncomfortable communications with you or asking about how you are coping. 

It can be very damaging to realise that your friends and family, who you assumed would be there for you, cannot meet the needs you now have. They may feel uncomfortable about your diagnosis as it can make them fearful about their futures! It can take time for people to come to grips with the diagnosis for your family and so they may take time to come to grips with it and join your support group over time. 

The Effects on your Health of Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease leads to nerve cell death and tissue loss throughout the brain. Over time, the brain shrinks dramatically, affecting nearly all its functions.

In the Alzheimer's brain:

• The cortex shrivels up, damaging areas involved in thinking, planning and remembering.

• Shrinkage is especially severe in the hippocampus, an area of the cortex that plays a key role in formation of new memories.

• Ventricles (fluid-filled spaces within the brain) grow larger.

Scientists can also see the terrible effects of Alzheimer's disease when they look at brain tissue under the microscope:

• Alzheimer's tissue has many fewer nerve cells and synapses than a healthy brain.

• Plaques, abnormal clusters of protein fragments, build up between nerve cells.

• Dead and dying nerve cells contain tangles, which are made up of twisted strands of another protein.

Scientists are not absolutely sure what causes cell death and tissue loss in the Alzheimer's brain, but plaques and tangles are prime suspects.

Plaques form when protein pieces called beta-amyloid (BAY-tuh AM-uh-loyd) clump together. Beta-amyloid comes from a larger protein found in the fatty membrane surrounding nerve cells.

Beta-amyloid is chemically "sticky" and gradually builds up into plaques.

The most damaging form of beta-amyloid may be groups of a few pieces rather than the plaques themselves. The small clumps may block cell-to-cell signaling at synapses. They may also activate immune system cells that trigger inflammation and devour disabled cells.

The Mental Impact of Alzheimer's Disease

The Impact of the Disease

Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias have a deep impact not only those who are diagnosed, but also on the people who are closest to them. Family members have to take on different responsibilities when a relative is diagnosed with dementia. Sons and daughters of a parent with dementia may become caregivers and husbands and wives of the person with dementia see their roles change. They often find themselves in the role of primary caregiver.

As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, you or others in your family may find the changing roles tough to accept. It may become harder when roles change in some ways, but not in others. When this happens, it can lead to some confusion about how to act. It sometimes takes a while to figure out just who will do what.



The family member with dementia usually becomes the family’s centre of attention. A Energy is focused on this person. This can lead to other family members, including spouses or other children, feeling neglected. They may become resentful because they feel they are not getting the attention they need.Some people have to take over everyday things, like chores, and they may feel burdened. The result can be that they may withdraw, avoiding family activities, or in the case of married people, they may end up getting divorced.

It is important to remember that different people react to the same situation in different ways. Some people will not be helpful at all and will put distance between them and the family. This is often because they feel that cannot cope with the changes. However, some people who care for a family member with dementia find that their families experience a new kind of closeness, as they work together to deal with stressful situations. Some people even show strengths that they never knew they had. 

The Brand Behind the Campaign

This was the final logo design I settled on.

This was the first logo design I came up with. I really liked the design, but I felt that it was not in keeping with the posters I had made.

This was all of my new ideas together as a side by side comparison. Regardless of colour I felt like it still was not in keeping with the brand image.

The Marketing Campaign

These are the three posters that I settled on.

The Effect of Alzheimer's Disease on the Brain

Scientists continue to unravel the complex brain changes involved in the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. It seems likely that damage to the brain starts a decade or more before memory and other cognitive problems become evident. During this preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s disease, people seem to be symptom-free, but toxic changes are taking place in the brain. Abnormal deposits of proteins form amyloid plaques and tau tangles throughout the brain, and once-healthy neurons stop functioning, lose connections with other neurons, and die.

The damage initially appears to take place in the hippocampus, the part of the brain essential in forming memories. As more neurons die, additional parts of the brain are affected. By the final stage of Alzheimer’s, damage is widespread, and brain tissue has shrunk significantly.