Alzheimers Disease

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Alzheimers Disease
Ronald Reagan February 6, 1911-June 5, 2004
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What is it?

• A memory loss disease that starts with minor
  forgetfulness, but progresses to serious memory
  loss, confusion, depression, restlessness,
  hallucinations, delusions, sleeplessness, and
  loss of appetite.

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Causes and Risk Factors

• Scientists cant identify a single reason to why
  cells fail.
• Age
• Greatest risk factor
• Occasionally strikes under age 40, but it affects
  5 of people over 65 and it doubles after that
  every five years. It affects almost 50 of the
  people over 85.
• Family history and genetics (heredity)
• Also influenced by head injury and heart-head
  connection.

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Symptoms

• Memory loss
• Difficulty performing normal tasks
• Problems with language
• Disorientation to time and place
• Poor or decreased judgment

• Problems with abstract thinking
• Misplacing things
• Changes in mood or behavior
• Changes in Personality
• Loss of initiative

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Patients with Alzheimers

• They have better procedural than declarative
  memory.
• They learn new hand skills but then are surprised
  by their good performance on what they consider
  an unfamiliar task.
• A golfer with Alzheimers will remember golf
  jargon and the rules but wont remember how many
  strokes he took on any hole plus he will keep
  thinking its his first shot.

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Brain Atrophy

• Amyloid beta protein 42 the amyloid precursor
  protein is cleaved mostly to a slightly longer
  protein, having 42 amino acids, which accumulates
  in the brain and impairs the functions of neurons
  and glia cells.
• These amyloid deposits produce widespread atrophy
  of the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and other
  areas.
• Tau protein can also accumulate abnormally
  causing brain atrophy.

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Result of Brain Atrophy

• Two abnormal structures called plaques and
  tangles are prime suspects in damaging and
  killing nerve cells. Plaques and tangles were
  among the abnormalities that Dr. Alois Alzheimer
  saw in the brain of Auguste D., although he
  called them different names.
• Plaques build up between nerve cells. They
  contain deposits of a protein fragment called
  beta-amyloid.
• Tangles twisted fibers of another protein called
  tau. They form inside dying cells. Though most
  people develop some plaques and tangles as they
  age, those with Alzheimers tend to develop far
  more.
• The plaques and tangles tend to form in a
  predictable pattern, beginning in areas important
  in learning and memory and then spreading to
  other regions. Scientists are not absolutely sure
  what role plaques and tangles play in Alzheimers
  disease. Most experts believe they somehow block
  communication among nerve cells and disrupt
  activities that cells need to survive.

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Young onset and Late onset

• Young onset or early stage is the early part of
  Alzheimers disease when problems with memory,
  thinking and concentration may begin to appear in
  a doctors interview or medical tests.
• Individuals in the early-stage typically need
  minimal assistance with simple daily routines.?
• The term young-onset refers to Alzheimer's that
  occurs in a person under age 65.
• Young-onset individuals may be employed or have
  children still living at home. Issues facing
  families include ensuring financial security,
  obtaining benefits and helping children cope with
  the disease.
• People who have young-onset dementia may be in
  any stage of dementia early, middle or late.
• Experts estimate that some 500,000 people in
  their 30s, 40s and 50s have Alzheimer's disease
  or a related dementia, a general term for the
  loss of memory and other intellectual abilities
  serious enough to interfere with daily life.
• Late onset occurs later in a persons lifetime
  due to aging.

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Treatments

• Currently, there is no cure.
• They noticed elevating patients glucose and
  insulin levels enhanced their memory because of
  its nutrition.
• Another possibility is to give drugs that
  stimulate acetylcholine receptors for arousal and
  brain activity.
• Researchers are evaluating new ways to block AB42
  production and stimulate surviving cells to
  become more active.
• Eat spinach and strawberries, and take a Vitamin
  E pill.

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Facts and Figures

• As many as 5.2 million people in the United
  States are living with Alzheimers.
• 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's
  in their lifetime.
• Every 71 seconds, someone develops Alzheimers.
• Alzheimer's is the seventh-leading cause of
  death.
• The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer's and
  other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid, and
  businesses amount to more than 148 billion each
  year.

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Bibliography

• Alzheimer's Association. What is Alzheimers.
  Alzheimers Disease. 15 April 2008. 13 May 2008.
  heimers.asp
• Kalat, James W. Biological Psychology. 7th ed.
  Canada Wadsworth, 2001.