Alzheimer's Disease : My Grandma's Killer

Alzheimer 's disease (AD) was discovered by a German doctor Alois Alzheimer in 1906 when he found amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the autopsy of a woman who died of an unknown mental disease. The extracellular amyloid plaque deposits, composed of insoluble amyloid-Beta peptide were hypothesized to be the main etiological factor. “The most important abnormality is an excess of Amyloid-beta peptides brought about through either overproduction or failure in degradation.” (Uzun, Kozumplik, & Folnegović-Smalc, 2011) Later, it was discovered that intracellular neurofibrillary tangles composed of hyper-phosphorylated, helically-paired tau

These Amyloid plaques are clumps of protein fragments accumulated between the nerve cells of the brain leading to its damage. In its normal state, these fragments are broken down and disposed but in the case of the Alzheimer’s disorder, these accumulated fragments form a rigid insoluble plaque on the neurons.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a form of degenerative, fatal dementia, is characterized by progressive cognitive decline. While AD is the most common form of dementia, its prevalence has only recently been recognized. When Alois Alzheimer first described the sequence of changes in 1907, physicians believed the disease to be an extremely rare, mid-life condition. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the same types of changes were shown to occur in both late- and early-onset forms (Cavanaugh et.al. 2008). As such, almost all knowledge of AD has been learned within the past several decades, with new discoveries being reported almost daily. It is now estimated that Alzheimer’s accounts for as many as 60% of all dementias and affects more than 500,000

Alzheimer’s disease is a common problem in today’s society and within the older population this disease makes up the largest form of dementia. Although it is a problem in mainly older people, this disease can still occur in the younger population also. People in their 30s-50s can be diagnosed with this disease, even though it is not as common as people in their 60s-90s. The number of people with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. is close to five million and is expected to double within the next 30 years. With our modern medicine and advancements one would think a cure would be available, however, getting to the cause of the disease is a major factor. The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is one that is very debatable and questionable and most likely is a result of multiple factors rather than one. The main issue with finding the cause is because this disease affects the brain and can

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.

Alzheimer’s disease is a complex illness that affects the brain tissue directly and undergoes gradual memory and behavioral changes which makes it difficult to diagnose. It is known to be the most common form of dementia and is irreversible. Over four million older Americans have Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to triple in the next twenty years as more people live into their eighties and nineties. (Johnson, 1989). There is still no cure for Alzheimer’s but throughout the past few years a lot of progress has been made.

Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. Brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease dies and degenerate causing the loss of memory and mental functions. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.A. Alzheimer’s Disease is named after Dr. Abis Alzheimer. In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a lady who had died of an unusual mental illness that was very unknown. The woman 's’ symptoms included memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable behavior that people with Alzheimer’s have almost often of times. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in this world and it’s thought to be the most progressive disease of all diseases. Also this disease gets progressively worse over time. The majority of people with Alzheimer’s are sixty-five years old or older, however, almost five percent of the people have early-onset Alzheimer’s. Early-Onset Alzheimer 's is known as Alzheimer 's at a younger age which appears at the ages of forties and fifties. In early stage Alzheimer’s, memory lost is very mild. With late Alzheimer’s, individuals lose the ability to carry on conversations and respond to their environment. People with Alzheimer’s often live an average of eight years after their symptoms become noticeable to others.

Even today, after so much study, Alzheimer’s is not fully understood. However, researchers do agree that this degenerative disease is caused by the gradual buildup of fibrous protein compounds in the brain, which are known in the scientific world as amyloids. These amyloids in the brain area act like plaque and as a result of their presence, the normal brain functioning is disrupted.

Alzheimer’s, the most relevant cause of Dementia, is a disease that affects as many as 4.5 million Americans per year (WebMD 2005-2014). Alzheimer’s is a disease that is an irremediable, continuous brain neuron degenerative disease that can be asymptomatic at first and then overtime becomes symptomatic. Alzheimer’s is a gradual disease that advances in three phases: mild, then moderate, and, finally, severe (1). Symptoms appear after the age of 60 and include: the slow destruction of memory and thought processes, and ultimately ends with the absent ability to do normal everyday duties. These symptoms can be anything from forgetting a recent event, or can be as problematic as forgetting the name of a family member. There are many daily

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive and neurodegenerative form of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, reasoning, judgement and decision-making, recognizing, as well as behavior, and is serious enough to interfere with daily life and activities, that eventually leads to profound physical as well as mental disabilities, resulting in the need for institutional care (Hoyer & Roodin, 2009). AD is most widespread in senior population aged 65 and over, which constitutes approximately 85-95% of the cases, in the rest of 5-15% of the times Alzheimer’s Disease can have an early-onset (before 60 years of age) (Hoyer & Roodin, 2009). According to Alzheimer’s Association, today Alzheimer’s Disease is at the forefront of biomedical research, as it is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States (alz.org). Researchers hope that better understanding of Alzheimer’s and related dementias can lead to discovering new and effective treatments. United States is not the only country that is facing this issue, this problem is global. According to the recent epidemiological studies, the worldwide prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease will rise from 27 million people worldwide in 2006 to 66 million in 2030, and 115 million in 2050 (Werner, 2012). The main risk factor for developing AD is chronological age (Hoyer & Roodin, 2009). This means that by 2050, one in three persons over 80 years of age will most likely suffer from some sort of dementia, most likely from AD

The causes of Alzheimer’s are not yet fully understood; however, its effect on the brain can be understood. Alzheimer’s disease - insidious, attacking and terrifying - stalks and then murders brain cells. A brain afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease has a decreased count in cells and connections among cells. The more brain cells die, the smaller the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s gets. When doctors examine a brain with Alzheimer’s tissue, they see two types of deformities that are known to be trademarks of the disease. The first trademark is known as plaque, which is a cluster of a beta-amyloid protein that may damage and kill brain cells in a number of ways, including blocking with cell-to-cell communication. Whereas the final cause of brain-cell death in Alzheimer’s remains a mystery, the groups of beta-amyloids that cover the brain cells are a sure sign of the disease. The second trademark of Alzheimer’s is the tangle. Brain cells are reliant on internal support and a transport system to bring nutrients and other essentials to their distant regions. This system needs a protein called tau. In Alzheimer’s, strings of tau protein roll into abnormal tangles inside brain cells, concluding in failure of the cell's transport system. This breakdown of the system is powerfully involved in the decline and death of brain

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the cortex, entorhinal cortex and hippocampus of the brain causing neuronal cell death, dysfunction of neurotransmitters (acetylcholine, serotonin, and norepinephrine) and atrophy in affected areas. B Amyloid plaques are described as insoluble clumps of peptides resulting from the cleavage of amyloid precursor protein. Neurofibrillary tangles result from destruction of neuronal microtubules which are key components of neuronal cell structure as they deliver nutrients and assist with synaptic

The research into Alzheimer's Disease has come a long way since 1906 when it is was discovered by Alois Alzheimer. He detected microscopic brain tissue changes called senile and neuritic plaques in deceased patients. These are chemical deposits consisting of protein molecules called Amyloid Precursor Protein(APP) that are fundamental components of a normal brain. However in the brain of an Alzheimer patient, an enzyme cuts the APP apart and leaves fragments in the brain tissue. These combined with degenerating nerve cells cause the plaques or lesions. These lesions are found in many sections of the brain including the hippocampus which regulates emotion and memory, the basal forebrain, and especially the basal nucleus of Meynert and the cortex, where the memory function is located.(2) Another sign of a diseased brain are neurofibrillary tangles, which are malformations within nerve cells.

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.

The spontaneous self-aggregation of Aβ into multiple coexisting physical forms, including oligomers (two to six peptides), leads to their coalescence into intermediate assemblies. In addition to this, β-amyloid can also grow into fibrils, which arrange themselves into β-pleated sheets to form the insoluble fibers of advanced amyloid plaques. Soluble oligomers and intermediate amyloids are the most neurotoxic forms of Aβ. In brain-slice preparations, synapses are toxified by dimers and trimers of Aβ. However, the severity of the cognitive defect in Alzheimer’s disease is in correlation with the levels of oligomers in the brain, not the total burden of Aβ. Neuronal activation rapidly increases Aβ secretion at the synapse, a process tied to the normal release of vesicles containing