Etta James was a musician, an R&B music prodigy famously known for "At Last" and I'd Rather Go Blind." This artist suffered drug-related issues, and she still got nominated for the Grammy Award because of her eponymous album in 1973. Etta James was born on January 25, 1938, in Jamesetta Hawkins, in California. She would quote her mother saying that even if a song has been done over a thousand times, there is always a possibility of creating something out of it. James started singing on the radio and in the church choir, and at 12 years old, she was already a leader of a band. In 1954 after moving to Los Angeles, James recorded "The Wallflower" and later launched her career as a solo artist. Etta received fame and acclaim in this field of music that not many female artists did, especially at the time.
James Etta stated developing health complications as she hit 70 years. She was diagnosed with issues such as dementia, leukemia, and Hepatitis C (Jamison). At the later age of 72, the then R&B popular and sassy artist was admitted to Riverside Community Hospital after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Her son confirmed that the artist had been diagnosed with this illness over a year ago, and she had been battling with it in secret. At the time, Etta James had speaking difficulties, and she had also contracted the MRSA virus, which is depicted as potentially deadly. Alzheimer's disease is a brain disorder or condition that is irreversible. This progressive disease gradually destroys the thinking ability and skills of the infected person. After some time, it starts affecting their ability to complete tasks that initially were simple and effortless. In most cases, the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease become detected after the patient reaches the age of 60, and this is usually the onset stage of the illness.
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The Alzheimer's disease would have affected James's consciousness because this disease gradually destroys human cognitive abilities. It would have led to her losing her memory, and especially her declarative memory. Declarative memory is a recollection of facts and events that a person can recall. This disease would also have adversely affected her problem-solving, calculations, language, and perception or rather cognitive skills (Ciccarelli et al., 2010). If the individual has had previous injuries to the brain or an unhealthy lifestyle, for instance, James’s drug problem and other medical conditions that she was suffering from, for instance, blood infection, they are at a higher risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease. More so, the age factor plays a key role in increasing the risk of infection.
When Alzheimer's attacks the brain, the brain plaques of proteins develop tangles that are constantly growing. This material is usually misplaced, and it may obstruct or choke nutrients out, preventing them from spreading to the brain. The illness kills neurons gradually. At this stage, Etta James would have started suffering from memory loss and confusion; she would have become clumsy and lost the ability to form new memories. Additionally, the patient’s personality may have changed. As the plaques and tangles spread, brain cells subsequently die because they are lacking nutrients.
Alzheimer’s disease would also have affected the legendary musician physically. She may have started losing physical bodily coordination, and her muscles may have become stiff. Another physical manifestation of the illness would have been experiencing trouble sitting up in a chair or standing. Alzheimer's would also have led to her experiencing seizures, fatigue and increased muscle weakness, and a problem with dragging feet while walking. Other physical issues may have been a disruption of sleep patterns and an inability to control her bowel movements. For a patient with Alzheimer's disease, the body would start declining, and this opens a pathway for other health impairments to develop. While the immune system declines, she would have started developing other infections, such as reported leukemia.
Just as it has physical and cognitive effects, Alzheimer’s disease would have affected Etta James emotionally. Individuals suffering from this illness have a high likelihood of experiencing emotions such as anxiety, anger, depression, loneliness, and fear (Manzini, 2020). It is important to note that she would also have possibly felt joyful and motivated to live in the moment. However, in most cases, she would have been more likely to be emotionally frustrated and angry, mainly because of the decline in her physical and cognitive aspects. Cognitions are also another aspect of this Alzheimer's patient that would have been affected. Furthermore, she would have had behavioral issues such as aggressiveness. Cognitive impairment would have started with a loss of memory; thus, her reported case of dementia. Although the onset of these symptoms varies from one person to another, this Alzheimer's disease patient, like most people, would have started by losing normal cognition aspects such as finding her words and developing issues with her vision (Joe, 2019). She may also have started having impaired judgment, decision-making, and reasoning.
Alzheimer's disease has three stages; mild, moderate, and severe. In the mild stage, individuals may start losing more memories and developing problems with their cognition. These individuals at this stage may start wandering off, repeating questions or things they are saying, and trouble when handling their bills and money overall. They take longer to do things that normally took shorter periods. In the moderate stage, the brain area responsible for language, reasoning, conscious thought, and sensory processes is damaged. In this stage, patients may start hallucinating. In the severe stage, the brain's tissue shrinks, seeing as plaques and tangles have spread. Plaques are clumps of nutrients in the brain, and tangles are threads formed from tau molecules. In this stage, patients are helpless and dependent on the care of other people until the body system shuts down.
References
Ciccarelli, S. K., White, J. N., Fritzley, V. H., & Harrigan, T. (2010). Psychology: an exploration (p. 672). Pearson Prentice Hall.
Jamison, J. James, Etta.
Joe, E., & Ringman, J. M. (2019). Cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease: Clinical management and prevention. Bmj , 367 .
Manzini, C. S. S., & Vale, F. A. C. D. (2020). Emotional disorders evidenced by family caregivers of older people with Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia & Neuropsychologia , 14 (1), 56-61.
