Effects of Alzheimer’s disease Description of the Disease Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder which attacks brain cells and neurons. This disease results in loss of memory, lower thinking capacity, loss of coordination and poor language skills. Alzheimer disease is majorly caused by brain cell death where neurons producing acetylcholine or neurotransmitters breaks connections with other nerve cell resulting to inflammation in the brain system connection (Munoz & Feldman, 2012). When nerve cells in the hippocampus are destroyed by Alzheimer’s disease a person experiences the loss of short-term memory, while the destruction of neurons in the cerebral cortex results to decline in person’s judgment and language skills. Causes …show more content…
In addition to that, patients with Alzheimer’s disease are reported to having loss of memory because of disconnection in the process involving signal transduction. The brain tissue shrinks and brain cells also die as a result of inflammation. Most of the patients with Alzheimer’s disease are people of age 65 years and above. It is therefore, believed that age is an environmental factor that increases the risk of Alzheimer’s development. Even though it is not proven scientifically, the statisticians have reported half of the people over the age of 80 having Alzheimer’s disease (Causes and Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease., n.d.). Other risk factors that may lead to the disease development are; smoking, Hypertension, accumulation of cholesterol in the body, poorly controlled diabetes, lack of social engagement, lack of exercise and mild cognitive impairment. The 7 Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease Per Dr. Barry Reisberg of New York University, there are 7 progression stages of Alzheimer’s disease. During stage 1, the are no observable signs of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. In stage 2, patients seem to have normal age related memory loss like losing things around the house. They can still pass memory and cognitive testing and their memory loss is unlikely to be noticed by family or doctor. At stage 3, family members start to notice memory
Alzheimer's and dementia is one of the many diseases that affects the nervous system, particularly the brain. Acute memory loss is known as dementia. Thus, Alzheimer's is a severe form of dementia. The diagnosis is the brain lacking brain cells and connections due to degradation. Symptoms of Alzheimer's includes memory loss which can range from minor to severe as well as confusion which directly corresponds to memory loss. Groups of nerves work together to focus on specific jobs such as communication and memory. The brain cells work together and “receive supplies, generate energy, construct equipment and get rid of waste.” Alzheimer's is believed to prevent parts of the cell to not function properly. Scientists are not thoroughly sure where the cells malfunction begins. As the cell continues to divide and spread, the infected cells begin to die off leading to damaged brain connections. Scientists believe that plaques and tangles are the cause of the disease. Plaques are “deposits of a protein fragment called beta-amyloid that build up in the spaces between nerve cells.” Tangles are “twisted fibers of another protein called tau that build up inside cells.” Age results in developed plaques and tangles though, Alzheimer patients have an abnormal amount of these
Alzheimer’s is a systemic disease, meaning that it affects more than one part of the body. There are three major systems that are affected by Alzheimer’s. The first involves the Central Nervous System. The CNS includes the brain and spinal cord, allowing the nervous system to make the spinal cord and brain function. The Central Nervous System is affected because specific brain proteins begin to malfunction and brain cells die. The loss of brain cells is the reason for memory loss and
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 the progressive loss of memory and mental functions. The disease affects memory, thought control, language, and other cognitive functions. The disease typically appears with old age and is often found age 60. Alzheimer’s causes the brain to develop clumps and tangles fibers in the brain tissue along with the loss of neuron connections. Throughout the brain, proteins are abnormally distributed and they form tangled bundles of fibers and amyloid plaques. Some neurons fail to function properly and lose their connections, which are necessary for the transmission of messages to the body. The hippocampus is the key brain structure in the formation of memories and often experiences the first signs of damage.
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 degenerative disease of the brain that causes gradual loss of memory, judgement and ability to function. This age-related, non-reversible brain disorder develops over a period of years. This disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. He had noticed changes in the brain tissue of a women who had died of an unknown mental illness. Alzheimer’s usually appears in people over the age of 65 but earlier stages of Alzheimer’s is created throughout adulthood. The early stages of Alzheimer’s is yet unknown but the damages to the brain is said to be caused up to a decade earlier before the problems become evident. Amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and neurons, being the loss of connection between nerve cells, are the main features in Alzheimer’s disease. Abnormal deposits of protein form amyloid plaques and tangles throughout the brain and the at once healthy brain begins to work less efficiently. Over this time, neurons then lose the ability to function and communicate with each other and they eventually end up dying. The damage caused by this soon spreads to a near structure in the brain called Hippocampus. Hippocampus plays important roles in the the brain such as long-term memory. As more and more neurons tend to die, the affected parts of the brain begin to shrink. By the final stage of Alzheimer’s, the damage has spread throughout the affected patient’s brain and the patient’s brain tissue has significantly shrunk. Alzheimer’s disease can also be
Dementia is a chronic disorder of mental process caused by brain disease or injury. There are seven stages of dementia. In stage one, nobody has dementia. Stage two is when the person starts forgetting names and where familiar objects were left. Stage three, is difficulty concentrating and decreased work performance. By stage four, the ones diagnosed start to lose memory of recent events and have troubles of traveling alone to new locations. Stage five sometimes the victims need help with daily activities, like dressing and eating. Even may also forget their address and phone number. In stage six, they may start to forget names of close family members.
Alzheimer’s causes degeneration of brain tissue and nerve cells. With less nerve cells present, it becomes harder for the brain to communicate with the body and function properly.
Alzheimer’s disease is incurable, but there are many stages, warning signs, and risk factors that can serve as detection devices for those who have older adults in their lives. One of the most common early signs of this form of dementia is memory loss. While it is normal for people to occasionally forget things, such as appointments and names, people with Alzheimer’s tend to forget these things more often and are not able to recall them even after a period of time. Other signs that signify a possible case of Alzheimer’s is difficulty performing familiar tasks (cooking, brushing teeth), problems with language (using odd words, failing to remember correct words), disorientation (forgetting where one lives, not knowing how he got to a certain place), problems with abstract thinking (forgetting what numbers represent), misplacing items (putting a hair brush in the freezer), moodiness, personality changes (confusion, suspicion, fearfulness), and loss of initiative
Dementia, memory loss, and cognitive breakdown are some of the major signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The disease damages brain cells, which in turn, impairs the memory and leads to loss of memory and the ability to perform tasks. The slow elimination of cells weakens the brain’s ability to remember things, perform normal
The human brain is a remarkable organ, complex chemical and electrical processes take place within our brains. They let us speak, move, see, feel emotions and make decisions. Inside a normal healthy brain billions of cells called neurons constantly communicate with one another.Healthy neurotransmission is important for the brain to function well. Alzheimer's disease destroys memory and thinking skills over time by compromising the ability of neurons to communicate with one another (Jannis).The disease triggers as two abnormal protein fragments called plaques and tangles accumulate in hippocampus, the part of the brain where memory first formed, and destroy brain cells. Eventually,after the plaques and tangles completely kill 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).
Alzheimer’s Disease accounts for sixty to seventy percent of dementia cases. The disease starts slowly and gets worse over time. The most common symptoms are short term memory loss, trouble with language , moods swings , and loss of movement.
The most common early symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering newly learned information. (Alzheimer’s Association) Short-term memory will begin to fail when Alzheimer's disease first kills the nerve cells in the hippocampus. (AFA) As we age, so does our brain. In life it is common for us to eventually experience some loss of our cognitive ability. Nonetheless, severe memory loss, misperceptions, and other extreme changes in the way our minds work may be a sign that our brain cells are failing. Before my grandmother was diagnosed she had gotten lost while driving to my aunt’s house, she could not remember where she was going. She called my grandfather in hysterics, this is when he decided it was time to take her to the doctor. Many people like my grandmother are not aware of their symptoms, it is much easier for family members and friends to see the signs of Alzheimer’s. As Alzheimer’s claims the brain, the symptoms become much more severe. Eventually its victims could suffer from incomprehension, mood and behavior changes. They can begin to experience confusion about occasions including time and place. They may develop an overwhelming and speculative reservations toward their family, friends, and caretakers. Eventually they may have extreme difficulty speaking, swallowing, and walking; this is caused by neurons dying in the cerebral
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been working on a potential new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. They are honing in on the genetics involved, hoping to hijack enzymes to do the job.