Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out daily tasks. For most people with Alzheimer’s, symptoms first appear in their mid-60s. The disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable behavior. After she died, he examined her brain and found many abnormal clumps called amyloid plaques and tangled bundles of fibers called neurofibrillary, or tau, tangles. These abnormal clumps and tangled bundles of fibers in the brain are still considered some of the main …show more content…
Scientists do not yet fully understand what causes Alzheimer’s disease. There probably is not one single cause, but several factors that affect each person differently. Scientists have determined certain risk factors that are common to most Alzheimer’s cases. They have determined that age is the best-known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers believe that genetics may also play a role in developing Alzheimer’s disease. Changes in the brain can begin years before the first symptoms appear. Researchers are still studying whether education, diet, and environment play a role in developing Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists are finding more evidence that some of the risk factors for heart disease and stroke, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and low levels of the vitamin folate may also increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Evidence is also growing for physical, mental, and social activities as protective factors against Alzheimer’s …show more content…
Other dementias include Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal disorders, and vascular dementia. It is common for people to have mixed dementia which is a combination of two or more disorders, at least one of which is dementia. Some people have both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Other conditions that may cause memory loss or dementia include: medication side effects, chronic alcoholism, tumors or infections in the brain, blood clots in the brain, vitamin B12 deficiency, some thyroid, kidney, or liver disorders, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, sleep disturbances. Some of these conditions may be treatable and possibly reversible. They can be serious and should be treated by a doctor as soon as
Alois Alzheimer was born in Marktbreit, Germany, in 1864, and showed a pioneer ability for science. After gaining his medical degree, he worked in hospitals in Frankfurt, where he met Auguste Deter, a 51-year-old woman suffering from a short-term memory loss. He was soon capable to quarantine the pathological basis of severe dementia, so far-reaching that the condition became known as Alzheimer's disease, named after him (Hippius & Neundörfer, 2003).
The sickness was first discovered in 1906 by a German physician named Dr. Alois Alzheimer.
Scientists are not entirely sure but they think it could be a protein ApoE in the blood, but the most obvious cause they can find is tangled nerve cords . Apoe is a protein that moves cholesterol in the blood. Scientists also hypothesize that genetics are a higher risk ("Alzheimer's Disease Information: Facts, Causes, Definition, and More").
Although the exact cause of Alzheimer’s is not known, most cases of the disease are caused by genetic mutations passed from the parent to the child (1). There are several genes associated with Alzheimer’s one in particular is apolipoprotein E (1). The presence of one or more of these genes does not necessarily mean that the person will develop Alzheimer’s however; it does increase the risk (5). Several environmental factors and lifestyle choices responsible for damage to blood vessels in the brain also contribute to the development of the disease (4). These factors include, past trauma to the head, cardiovascular disease, smoking, diabetes, or a poor diet (4).
Alzheimer’s Disease is 56% of the cause of dementia, which is characterized as a decline in memory language, problem solving, and other cognitive skills that affect a person’s ability to perform everyday tasks. (Petersen 2002) AD was first identified over 100 years ago, but it actually took about 70 years for it to be recognized as the most common form of dementia. (Alzheimer’s Association 2016) Although much has been researched and discovered about AD to help diagnose and treat the disease, much is yet to be discovered about the precise biological changes the causes Alzheimer’s and why it progresses more quickly in some than others. Scientists and doctors around the world have a common goal of discovering ways to stop of prevent this genetically
Alzheimer's Disease, progressive brain disorder that causes a gradual and irreversible decline in memory, language skills, perception of time and space, and, eventually, the ability to care for oneself. First described by German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer in 1906, Alzheimer's disease was initially thought to be a rare condition affecting only young people, and was referred to as presenile dementia. Today late-onset Alzheimer's disease is recognised as the most common cause of the loss of mental function in those aged 65 and over. Alzheimer's in people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, called early-onset Alzheimer's disease, occurs much less frequently, accounting for less than 10 percent of the estimated 4 million Alzheimer's cases in the
When it comes to genetics, only less than 5% of people can be guaranteed to develop Alzheimer’s disease because of their genetics which makes it very rare to develop it that way. With today’s medicine and technology, the definitive cause of Alzheimer’s disease is unknown but the effects on the brain are clear. Brain cells are dying at a rapid rate which causes failure of mental function and over time the affected person’s brain starts to shrink. People affected with Alzheimer’s disease have lots of plaques in the brain which disturbs cell-to-cell communication and can lead to brain death. Alzheimer’s disease can also be developed based on the lifestyle you live. Some examples of ways Alzheimer’s disease can develop are: lack of exercise, smoking, and high blood pressure. These causes are linked to dementia since it causes damage to red blood cells which go to the
Although some kinds of memory loss are very normal in the aging process, the changes that are caused by aging are not that extreme enough to conflict with it. A number of certain diseases and conditions can cause dementia. These conditions and diseases consist of Parkinson’s disease, strokes, brain tumors, blood clots and Multiple Sclerosis, but the most common disease to cause this is Alzheimer’s disease (Crystal, 2009).
Although certain factors such as lifestyle can be controlled, others like age and gender cannot be altered. According to the Alzheimer's society, age is considered as the greatest factor that causes the disease. In fact, researchers have found that majority of a victim of this ailment are above the age of sixty-five. They have also revealed that above this age, the risk of the person developing this condition doubles in every five years. Further, they have discovered that twice the women above the age of sixty-five are affected
[Alzimer it 's a disease that is common on age 60 or older. This disease is named after Dr.Akois Alzheimer, in 1906. He notist some changes in the brain tissue of a woman who have died and had a mental problem. her mental symptoms was loss the memory, language problem, sand some communication behavior. When he was examined her brain he found some abnormal clumps, and tangled bundles of fibers.
Alzheimer’s disease is the common cause of dementia. Age, family history, down’s syndrome and cardiovascular disease are the cause of developing the Alzheimer diseases. (Nhs.uk, 2016g)
Among the various types of diseases, certain diseases are named after a scientist or a doctor who has discovered it or rather a famous person who suffered from it . Alzheimer’s disease is one of
Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disorder characterized by problems with memory, reasoning, behavior and motor skills. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and its symptoms develop slowly and get worse over time ("Alzheimer's Disease | AD | MedlinePlus," 2014). In Alzheimer’s disease, a patient’s brain cells begin to degenerate and eventually die, causing a severe decline in memory and mental function; making it nearly impossible for a patient to perform daily tasks. Although the causes of Alzheimer’s are not fully known, scientists believe that it is “caused by a combination of genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors that damage the brain over time” (Mayo Clinic Staff , 2015).
It is not known yet what exactly triggers off the weakening of the brain cells. There are many factors which lead the growth of Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia (A group of thinking and social symptoms that interferes with daily functioning which is also considered as memory loss) that can contribute to a loss of memory. In deeper thought, your brain tissues and brain cells die out causing memory loss. Your memory is stored in different parts of your brain, also in cells so when those cells die, your memory is lost (the brain size shrinks). For some reason, Alzheimer's gets to the short-term memory first, so people with Dementia tend to remember long-term memories but not the short-term ones. Most of the time people get the Alzheimer's gene from family members passed down, but sometimes it is because of high blood pressure, older age, and plaques which interfere