About Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of mental disorder
known as “dementia”. Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously
hampers the brain’s ability to process rational or normal thought and
inhibits the daily activities of its sufferers. Alzheimer’s disease,
therefore, affects the part of the brain that is responsible for thought,
memory, and language.
History Of Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s was first categorized by Emil Kraepelin, a German
psychiatrist, who realized the symptoms and Alois Alzheimer who observed the
characteristics of this disorder. Alzheimer was also a German psychiatrist and
neuropathologist and “co-discovered” Alzheimer’s disease with
Kraepelin in 1906. Alzheimer worked in Kraepelin’s laboratory and was
awarded the name of the disorder by Kraepelin who attached importance to
finding the neuropathological basis for psychiatric disorders.
For
most of history, Alzheimer’s was diagnosed in individuals aged 45-65 as
they developed symptoms of dementia (presenile dementia, to be exact). The term
“Alzheimer’s” began to be used in patients demonstrating
symptoms of this form of dementia in later age groups as well as they began to
develop the symptoms of their younger counterparts.
Changes In The
Brain
There are several observable brain pattern changes that occur
with Alzheimer’s disease. An anomalous protein called “amyloid
beta” deposits itself outside of nerve cells in the form of
“amyloids” or various types of protein fragments. Also known as
“diffuse plaques”, these protein fragments form the core of more
organized pieces that are known as “senile plaques” and effectively
gather other proteins along the way to form a fairly large portion of proteins
that accumulate in the blood vessels in the brain.
This accumulation
of proteins in the blood vessels builds up and forms in the structure of
filaments that diffuse atrophy and contribute to loss of neurons. Atrophy is
simply known as the wasting away of a part of the body, so the brain is
effectively wasting away from the mass of proteins in the cerebral cortex
portion and affects various regions of the brain, gradually eating away at
valuable memory portions and other areas.
Alzheimer’s disease
then arrives from the reduced levels of basic brain chemicals, namely
serotonin, somatostatin, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine. The levels of
glutamate in the brain are elevated. There are many theories as to where the
disease originates; some believe it is caused be the reduction of acetylcholine
and hold that by replacing the level of acetylcholine, the effects of
Alzheimer’s disease could be lessened. This reasoning, however, has not
led to a cure even though most of the early medications for Alzheimer’s
disease were based on this hypothesis.
Recent
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Living With Alzheimer’s
Living
with Alzheimer’s can be a crippling experience for both the disease
sufferer and the family that is involved. There are many moments of
misunderstanding or confusion for most and the symptoms can become frustrating
and difficult
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