What Causes Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer’s is a disease in the brain that affects a person’s memory, thinking, and behavior. It is the most common form of dementia and is common in adults older than 65. More than five million Americans are being affected by Alzheimer’s at this moment. Alzheimer’s comes in three stages; early, middle, and advanced. The disease is caused by the shrinking of the brain due to many risk factors and genetics.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disease which slowly destroys thinking and memory skills. These changes are severe enough to interfere with day to day life. This irreversible disease is the most common cause of dementia amongst the elderly, with an appearance of first symptoms after age 60.

More than five million are living with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States and the number is set to almost triple by the year 2050. It is common in the elderly and generally occurs in persons over 65 years of age, but early onset of Alzheimer’s has also been documented (“Alzheimer’s disease facts,” 2016, para. 1). It starts in the medial temporal area of the brain, usually in the hippocampus, and then spreads to other areas of the brain. Blows (2011) explains, “Alois Alzheimer was a German psychiatrist who in 1906 described a dementia with two specific changes found in the brain after death... these changes were the presence of extracellular plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and these became the hallmarks of this disease” (p. 286). Loss of neurons takes place and amyloid plaques form. This is due to build-up of non-functioning proteins and can be observed by imaging techniques (Radin, 2003, p. 41). There are many risk factors that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The greatest risk factor is family history, but other risk factors include diabetes, hypertension obesity, hyperlipidemia, smoking, depression, physical inactivity, low estrogen levels, and head trauma (Huether & McCance, 2014, p. 546). The actual cause of Alzheimer’s is unknown, but there are genes associated with it that make the disease heritable. What is clear is that

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. “Dementia is a general term that describes a group of symptoms-such as loss of memory, judgment, language, complex motor skills, and other intellectual function-caused by the permanent damage or death of the brain 's nerve cells, or neurons.” Alzheimer’s is not a part of aging even though increasing age is a risk factor but Alzheimer’s occurs in people 65 and older. Alzheimer’s worsens over time. In the early stages memory is lost and then gradually goes to where they can’t hold a conversation or remember their surroundings.

Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. It is the most commonly known form of dementia, which is a broad term used to describe types of memory loss that affect day to day life (National Alzheimer’s Association). As the disease progresses the symptoms worsen to the point individuals can no longer react to and engage with their environment. Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. At this time, there is no known cure for this disease.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association (2015), Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia, was first discovered by Alois Alzheimer in 1906; in which it accounts for

What is Alzheimer's Disease? Alzheimer's Disease is an existential form of Dementia. Alzheimer's is a gradually crippling disease that affects an individual’s mental and physical capabilities over time. The disease develops predominantly within aged individuals. It is unknown as to what factors contribute to the etiology, or cause, of Alzheimer's Disease. In order to better understand Alzheimer's Disease, medical research and theories have helped shed a light as to how Alzheimer's occurs. By understanding what events lead to the cause of the disease, a specific treatment can then be developed that can hopefully stop or even reverse this debilitating disease that affects the elderly.

Many people have Alzheimer's when they are over the age of 65. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of Dementia. Dementia is a disorder of mental processes caused by an

Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time. Alzheimer 's is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss. Alzheimer 's disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. Alzheimer’s disease attacks the brain’s nerve cells causing memory loss. Alzheimer’s is one of the top leading causes of death in the United States.

“Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a type of dementia, which is affecting the population that develops in the brain and can lead to problems with memory, thinking and behavior”. The Amyloid Hypothesis claims that the build up of the beta-amyloid in the brain is a cause in the development of Alzheimer disease in patients. This plaque of the beta-amyloid and its cascade of events can be linked to the deterioration and negative effects of cognitive function of the brain over time. The beta-amyloid is described to be a “sticky” protein located in the brain therefore plaques or build up of the amyloid is common. These plaques in turn can block the brain cells from communicating with each other. Which then activates an immune system, that leads to inflammation

What is Alzheimer’s disease? How does it affect our lives? In today’s world, people may have a family member or simply a friend that has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It is essential that people are educated about the definition, origin, effect, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease because it is so much more than just memory loss.

The causes of Alzheimer’s disease are not yet fully comprehended which in my opinion makes it more intimidating. Alzheimer’s is characterized by various pathological markers in the brain such as large numbers of amyloid plagues surrounded by neurons containing neurofibrillary tangles which causes vascular damage from extensive plague deposition, and neuronal cell loss because it is not known if the amyloid plagues or the

     Alzheimer’s is a disease of the brain that causes a steady decline in memory. This results in dementia, which is loss of intellectual functions severe enough to interfere with everyday life. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting ten percent of people over 65 years old, and nearly 50 percent of those age 85 or older. My grandmother was diagnosed with “probable” Alzheimer’s disease over two years ago.

The production and accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides, in neuritic plaques, as well as, the increase of an abnormal hyperphosphorylated form of tau protein in neurofibrillary plaques or tangles, inside the neuronal cells, are the two main alterations believed to be the hallmarks of AD. (1) AD can be referred as a synaptic disease because the flow of information decreases due to depletion in the number of synapses and, with the development of AD, the death of a lot of neurons. This results in impairments at cognitive and emotional processing.(2, 3) The production and accumulation of Aβ, associated with the aggregations of Tau protein, are likely the precursors to the interference in the communication between neurons, promoting the blockage of nutrients and other essential molecules to the

Although age and genetics are the two biggest determining factors of causing Alzheimer’s disease, there are other small factors that can be controlled in order to help lower the risk or the age at which symptoms start to become prominent. Several scientists are digging into prevention strategies such as diet, exercise, and “brain games” can help delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline. They are also investigating how certain medical conditions, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes, influence risk for cognitive impairment (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). After studying those risk factors, results have demonstrated that certain health and lifestyle factors does not slow down