A General Overview Of Alzheimer's

Alzheimer 's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain from which there is no recovery. There are three brain abnormalities that are the hallmarks of the Alzheimer’s disease is initially caused by plaques buildup in the brain’s neurons as illustrated in figure 1. The support structure that allows the flow of the nutrients through the neurons gets damaged and ultimately there is loss of connection among the neurons and they die off (National Institute of Health, 2015). This causes the brain tissue to shrinks, which is called atrophies. All this ultimately lead the victim of this disease to face difficulties in governing emotions, recognize errors and patterns, coordinate movement, and remember. Ultimately, a person with AD loses all memory and mental functioning.

A form of Alzheimer 's diseases is early onset. Early onset Alzheimer 's disease is defined as someone diagnosed under the age of 65. Early onset is commonly found in people in their 40s and 50s. Five percent or around 200,000 of Americans living with Alzheimer 's have early onset form. The only cause known to early onset Alzheimer 's disease is genetics (Overview).

In people with Alzheimer’s, the neurons become disabled. For starters, Alzheimer’s interferes with the neurons ability to produce energy they need to do their work, a process known as metabolism. Neurons derive energy from the oxygen and glucose which is available through the bloodstream. Without this energy, neurons can no longer communicate with each other and carry impulses to other neurons. They also lose the ability to repair themselves, which ultimately causes them to die. Exactly what interferes with the functioning of the neurons is unclear, and the rate at which the disease progresses also varies from one person to another. Neuofibrillary tangles which is a tau protein that gives neurons their structure by binding to microtubules in a cell and

It most often begins in people over 65 years of age, although there are 200,000 cases that are early-onset Alzheimer's which begin before this. It affects about 5.2 million people who are 65 years and older. It was first described by, and later named after, the German psychiatrist and pathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906.

Alzheimer’s can be seen in people, starting at ages 30-60. This subset of the disease, known as “early onset” Alzheimer’s is rare and accounts for less than five percent of the total population of people with Alzheimer’s. The majority of victims develops “late-onset” Alzheimer’s, and falls in the age group of 65 years old or above. ("Alzheimer's Foundation of America.") The proportion of people who are effected

Scientists are uncertain about the role of plaques and tangles in Alzheimer's disease however, most believe they play a critical role in blocking communication among nerve cells and disrupt the processes that these cells need to survive. It's the destruction and death of nerve cells that causes memory failure, personality changes, problems carrying out daily activities and other symptoms of Alzheimer's

Alzheimer’s Disease is a complex genetic disease that affects millions of people. This devastating disease comes in to forms that it’s important to understand. Early onset Alzheimer’s, also referred to as familial Alzheimer’s disease, occurs between the ages of thirty and sixty and affects significantly less people than late onset Alzheimer’s. Late onset refers to people that are not affected by the disease until after the age of sixty, a majority of those affected have late onset.

Alzheimer’s causes nerve cell death and tissue loss throughout the brain. This causes the brain to shrink dramatically and affects almost all of its functions (Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia). There is a loss of connections among brain cells responsible for memory, learning, and communication. The main portion of the brain called the cerebral cortex shrivels up. This part of the brain is involved with thinking, planning, and remembering which makes sense since patients with the disease show symptoms involved with these actions. The hippocampus is another are of the cortex that works

Generally people consider Alzheimer's disease as a normal part of aging. Nevertheless, it is abnormal. A million of people undergo of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease expands in the brain and it is a neurodegenerative disorder of uncertain cause and a pathogenesis that primary affect older adults (1). Alois Alzheimer was a German physician who discovered Alzheimer's disease in 1906. He diagnosed Auguste D. who was a patient that had a memory loss, unfounded doubt about her family, and other psychological changes.

The neurons are the foundation of the brain, communicating through electrical impulses. With Alzheimer’s, the brain gets damaged, resulting in a shrinking brain. Alzheimer’s harms the way neurons work, and the way electrical charges travel throughout the “neuron forest.” Additionally, nerve cells die, dramatically harming an individual.

Many people think that Alzheimer’s is a normal part of aging, but it is not. The majority of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are at the age of 65 and older. However, five percent of people have early onset Alzheimer’s. People with early onset are in their 40s and 50s. Early onsets is a sign of Alzheimer’s at a younger age. People that have early onset have trouble with memory similar to patients with Alzheimer’s (Younger, p.1).

Alzheimer’s disease is a very slowly progressive disease that occurs inside the brain in which is characterized by damage of memory. Also this type of disease can lead into interruption in language, problem solving, planning and perception. The chance of a person developing Alzheimer’s disease increases enormously after the age of 70 (Crystal, 2009). Also people who are over the age of 85 have over a 50 percent chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. This type of disease is not at all normal in the aging process and is also not something that happens out of no where in a person’s life.

Alzheimer’s disease is a malfunction of the brain that worsens over time. Normally, the age to develop Alzheimer’s is over the age of 65, but it is possible to evolve this plight at the age of 40. Studies show that 10 percent of people who are over the age of 65 may have Alzheimer’s disease. Half the people over the age of 85 most likely have Alzheimer’s disease.

From the research Alzheimer’s disease usually presents subtlely and the cognitive decline is gradual. They are looking for new way to treat Alzheimer’s, the drug used help mask the symptoms of Alzheimer's, however they do not treat the disease or delay the progression (Boyd, 213). Consequently, the only specific treatment option available for people in early stages of Alzheimer's is cholinesterase inhibitors, and they only have limited success (Boyd, 2013). The article goes on to express the importance of earlier detection and how the inception of these drugs has opened up a window of opportunity to diagnose people earlier, give appropriate information and offer non pharmacological treatments. As we are non-medical prescribers, it is imperative

The first speaker talked about amyloid plaques and Alzheimer’s Disease. She specifically went into talking about how these plaques cause neuronal death which further causes Alzheimer’s. She had talked about an interesting point where if Alzheimer’s is genetic, patient onset can happen over twenty years before the disease shows physical symptoms.