The Correlation Between Down Syndrome And Alzheimer 's Disease

In times past many people thought that memory loss was a normal occurrence for elderly people. This thinking was major reason for why Alzheimer’s disease was not caught until very later in the stages. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. After heart disease, cancer, and strokes, Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of death in adults in the Western world. “It is estimated that 4.5 million Americans over the age of 65 are affected with this condition. After the age of 65, the incidence of the disease doubles every five years and, by age 85, it will affect nearly half of the population” (Robinson).

The amyloid cascade hypothesis is the most widely accepted of the AD pathogenesis hypotheses. Its principle is that the accumulation of Aβ plays a major role in AD pathogenesis, and the disease is analyzed as a series of abnormalities in the process and secretion of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), where an inequality between production and clearance of amyloid β is the triggering event and the most important factor responsible for other abnormalities observed in AD (Hardy et al, 2002; Cummings et al, 2007). Amyloid β is a peptide with high resistance to proteolytic degradation. It consists of 37–43 amino acids with different isoforms (Deane et al, 2009). Aβ is the result of sequential cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), generating

Individuals with Down syndrome are becoming increasingly integrated into society and community organizations, such as school, health care systems, work forces, and social and recreational activities. Individuals with Down syndrome possess varying degrees of cognitive delays, from very mild to severe. Most people with Down syndrome have cognitive delays that are mild to moderate.

Having Down syndrome can also increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s as well as diabetes. Diabetes is linked to Alzheimer’s due to the fact they have both been linked to cardiovascular diseases. They both exhibit utilization of glucose in the brains. These two diagnoses are so much alike that it is hard to tell an Alzheimer’s brain from a diabetic’s brain. The manufacturing of insulin in the brain is condensed and the nerve cells are less sensitive. Diabetic drugs are now being tested to see if they could possibly help out Alzheimer patients. Another factor I found very interesting was that people with less than 6 years of some type of higher education appear to have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. From these studies, it was assumed that the brain stimulation students receive actually provides some type of protective barrier for the brain therefore not allowing of the onset of the deterioration of the mind. Now that’s a good slogan for college and higher education if you ask me.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive and fatal form of dementia, frequently seen in the elderly altering their cognition, thought process and behavior. AD is reported in about half of patients that have a dementia diagnosis; one study states that about 10.3% of the population over 65 years is affected by dementia with an increase to almost 50% over the age of 8 (Beattie, 2002). Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of the aging process in humans, but rather found in a group of diseases that affect the brain leading to a decline in mental and physical control. AD when diagnosed has a very slow and gradual course, initially affecting the individual’s short term memory (Beattie, 2002). Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death, affecting more than five million people in the United States and is also one of the most common forms of dementia. Dementia can be defined as a disorder of progressive cognitive impairment severe enough to affect daily functions of an individual’s life (Fillit, et al., 2002).

“A Human Stem Cell Model of Early Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology in Down Syndrome.” (Shi, et al., 2012) breaks down both diseases along with expressing details about what is to be expected in the each stage as the disease progresses. This develops awareness and the hopes to introduce new strategies to ease the process.

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.

Throughout history there have been reports of decreased memory and mental deterioration that accompanied old age. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer who described the symptoms in a woman in Germany in the 1907 but it was not until the 1970’s that AD was considered to be a major disorder and AD continues to be a major health concern worldwide (Reger, 2002).

These plaques and tangles eventually kill the neuron all together and the person starts to experience more severe deficits in memory and cognition. Movement and other cognitive processes that are ingrained throughout life, tend to be the last abilities to change. A person with Alzheimer’s disease, in the context of short interactions may appear that they are more able than they actually are because they display abilities such as walking, using the restroom, or carrying on short conversations. Other biological considerations are the ties to genetics, especially with early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis, as well as people with Down syndrome that live into middle age. There is some focus on researching chromosome 21, however, ties to Alzheimer’s have also been indicated in chromosomes 1 and 14.

Alzheimer’s disease, other wise known as AD, is an age-related, non-reversible brain disorder that develops over a period of years . “Initially, people experience memory loss and confusion, which may be mistaken for the kinds of memory changes that are sometimes associated with normal aging.” However, what differentiates Alzheimer’s from normal aging is that cognitive function is impaired at such a high intensity over such a small time period that it induces issues such as: personality changes, decline in cerebral function, impairments when reasoning and making decisions, distortion and interference with speech, inability

The call came at 9:05 p.m. on January 20, 2004. Mom had just finished telling the news about the girl's grandfather. He had Alzheimer's Disease and was not doing well at all. The ruling was that he probably would not make it through the night. She knew exactly what the news was the moment her mom said, "No." After the news came, the decision was made they would leave the next day to attend the funeral.

(Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). The severity ranges from just memory loss, to the inability to carry a conversation or respond to the environment. That being the case, Alzheimer’s, or Senile Dementia, is an “irreversible and progressive brain disease” caused by the destruction of neurons, and development of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain (ADERF, 2016). Scientists have realized through their research with genetics that genes are crucial to the progression Alzheimer’s. Furthermore, the search for genetic variants will help to determine precision medicine, that takes individuals variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle into consideration. (ADERF, 2016). The probability of finding a treatment for Alzheimer's has boomed since the creation of genetic testing. Thus, the stigma that Senile dementia is an “irreversible and progressive brain disease” may soon to be found

Alzheimer’s is an irreversible disease normally affecting the elderly population and is progressive in nature causing degeneration that leads to impairments in memory, reasoning, planning, and behaviour. It is a neurodegenerative disorder that adversely affects neurons in the brain, ultimately resulting in loss of memory and language, behavioural disturbances, and dependence on caregivers (Phillips, Baktir, Das, Lin & Salehi, 2015, p. 1047). Alzheimer’s has 3

Most of the lesions in the brain of an AD patient are from plaques, which consist of beta amyloid peptides that are derived from APP (amyloid precursor protein) 7. APP (amyloid precursor protein) is located on the cell membrane and consists of N extracellular terminal, short C intracellular terminal, a single hydrophobic transmembrane domain and a metal binding site 16, and there are two ways for APP cleaving (figure 2):

Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in America. It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Alzheimer’s accounts for 70-80% of dementia cases. By the age of 65, 1 in 9 people are diagnosed and by the age of 85, 1 in 3 people will have the disease. According to the Alzheimer Association, 5 million people in American have Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s starts to form 20 years prior to being diagnosed. Learning about Alzheimer’s can help families understand how Alzheimer’s is more than just memory loss, it is an incurable mental disease.