The Alzheimer's Brain and Its Ethical Dilemma

This image, provided by the Alzheimer's Society, depicts a cross-section of both a healthy brain and one with advanced Alzheimer's disease. So what is actually occurring in the shriveled and broken right side of this brain?

The brain's cortex, hippocampus, and ventricles are the main areas affected. While the cortex and hippocampus shrink, the ventricles expand, causing memory to deteriorate. Plaques, or proteins, and tangles, or dead nerve cells, suffocate the healthy tissue of the brain and reduce the brain's size. (See this image for a magnified picture of healthy brain cells and ones infected by plaques and tangles).

Although often thought to only impact the memory of an afflicted individual, however, these plaques and tangles have a variety of adverse effects. Symptoms of the disease include disorientation in time and space, poor judgement, and sporadic changes in personality.

After considering many of the potentially dangerous effects that an unsupervised, affected individual may have on others, I'm still debating when and to what extent one should intervene in making decisions for an individual with dementia. How will society ever determine when it is appropriate to take basic freedoms, such the ability to drive, away from an individual with Alzheimer's disease? What role must the family play in preventing disaster?