Date of Award
Spring 1992
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Taft, Thomas B.
Second Advisor
Bardwell, Rebecca
Third Advisor
Fox, Robert
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease is one of the critical diseases of the 20th century (Jarvik and Winograd, 1988). This disease is now the fourth most common cause of death in the United States (Henderson and Finch, 1989; Jarvik and Winograd, 1988) and will emerge as the leading cause of death for Americans in the 21st century (Jarvik and Winograd, 1988). Current government estimates report 1.4 million persons in the United States suffer from dementia severe enough to require continued care by others, and it is estimated that 50 to 75% of these dementia cases are due to dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Thus, it is estimated that three quarters to one million cases of severe Alzheimer's disease now exist in the United States, and it is estimated that the number of Alzheimer's disease cases will double by the year 2000 and quintuple by the year 2040 (Martin, 1989)...