Alzheimer's Disease Essay

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Recommended: Identify the cause of alzheimers

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND OBSERVABLE CHANGES TO THE BRAIN
Alzheimer’s is neurodegenerative disease and the most common form of dementia among older people, which usually begins after age 60.

Within the cerebral cortex, proteins called Tau (threads within the neurons) and plaques called Amyloid-β (clumps of proteins found in tissue surrounding the neurons) interact to regulate axonal transport. Disruption of the normal process called proliferation (Rapid increase) leads to the accumulation of plaques and tangles. In a healthy brain, these protein fragments would break down and clear out, but in Alzheimer's patients, the fragments accumulate between nerve cells (neurons) in the brain forming hard, insoluble plaques, mostly in the hippocampus, which is essential for memory. These two proteins and their signaling pathways functioning normally are vital in hopes of keeping the brain from succumbing to Alzheimer's disease.

As Alzheimer's disease progresses, brain tissue shrinks. In contrast, the ventricles (the compartments within the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid) are prominently enlarged. In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, short-term memory begins to decline when the cells in the hippocampus degenerate.

POSSIBLE CAUSAL OR CONTRIBUTING FACTORS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT ALZHEIMER'S

The reasons for this disease are not fully know. However, there are some factors involved and age is the most important known risk factor related to Alzheimer's disease. The number of people with the disease doubles every 5 years beyond age 65. Family history or heredity is another risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Scientists have linked heredity to the (familial) rare, early-onset type of Alzheimer's. A gene-formulated pr...

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...it behind the brain damage that occurs when people develop Alzheimer's disease. This has researchers feeling a hint of promise as they are trying to develop new therapies that prevent beta amyloid from forming, or hope to break it down. Despite serious problems with the first human trial of a vaccine resulting in serious brain inflammation, small cerebral blood vessel disease, and hemorrhages in the brain, the current prospects for an immunotherapeutic treatment for the condition are good. Active and passive vaccination research in animals has shown that both vaccinations have a positive effect on levels of beta-amyloid in the brain, clearing plaque in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Another possibility is to target beta-secretase, rather than beta-amyloid, which could give patients and those at risk the benefits of immunotherapy, without the drawbacks.

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