Alzheimer's Disease (Article Sample)

Alzheimer’s disease
Student’s name
Institution
Author Note
This paper was prepared for, 304BMS taught by PROFESSOR’S NAME
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is also referred simply as Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is the most chronic neurodegenerative disease that begins slowly and progressively worsens with time(Blank, O'Mahony & Selwyn, 2007).McKhann et al (2011) states that Alzheimer’s accounts for about 60 to 80 percent of the dementia cases.
0635Alzheimer’s affects the thinking, memory as well as the general behavior of the affected person.
Source (Blank, O'Mahony & Selwyn, 2007)
Diagram: healthy brain of a person
Alzheimer’sdamagesthe intellectual role of the brain. Short term as well as long-term memories is the first to be affected, with short term being affected early. Later on, the other intellectual functions begin to deteriorate gradually (Drugs.com, 2015). Judgement becomes weak and damaged. Over time, a majority of the people with Alzheimer’s disease are unable to carry on with their daily activities.
Although the most widely known risk factor of Alzheimer’s is increased age, Alzheimer’s is not a section of the ageing process. The disease usually starts at the age of 60 years. Young people are not affected much like the older people. Scientists are not certain of what causes Alzheimer’s disease’s symptoms. The patients are known to develop lots of two types of proteins inside their brains. These researchers believe that the excessive protein deposits are the causes of communication distortion between the cells in the patient’s brains. After altering the communication, the brain cells are eventually damaged (Ben Ahmed, Benois-Pineau, Allard, Ben Amar, & Catheline, 2014).
Epidemiology
In the epidemiology of Alzheimer’s disease, the two measures that are mainly used are incidence, where the number of new cases are taken per person-time unit of a person at risk; and prevalence, where all the cases of the disease in a population are taken at a given time.
The table below indicates the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease
Age

Newly affected per thousand person-years

65-69

3

70-74

6

75-79

9

80-84

23

85-89

40

90-

69

Source: (Ben Ahmed, Benois-Pineau, Allard, Ben Amar, & Catheline, 2014)
The figures in the table show that the incidence of this disease increases with age.
Increase in age has been known as one of the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. This does not mean that everyone who ages must get Alzheimer’s disease, but after the age of about 60 years, Alzheimer’s disease is likely to begin affecting an individual.
Figure: indicates people with the disease across different age groups
Source (Chan et al, 2013)
The figure above shows the spread of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in a research that was conducted in a specific location. Chan et al (2013) states that the research the number of patients was about 1.93 million in 1990, 3.71 million in 2000 and 5.69 million in 2010. According to that research, the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease was 6.25 cases per 1000 person-years
Risk factors
Rare mutations that occur in three types of genes, have been found, guaranteeing that every person who inherits them would affected by the disease. However, these mutations account for a small percentage of about 5 percent of the disease. Most of the genetic mechanisms among the families with Alzheimer’s remain unexplained (mayoclinic.org, 2015). Apolipoprotein e4 (APOE-e4) is the strongest gene that has been found by researchers. There are however other genes that have been identified by are yet to be confirmed.
Sex is a predisposing factor in most diseases including Alzheimer’s. According to research, women live longer than men and are therefore at a higher risk of developing the disease (Lu & Bludau, 2011).
The other individuals who are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease are those people who have had a severe head trauma in the past. According to mayoclinic.org (2015), evidences indicates that there are some factors that put one at the risk of a heart disease thereby increasing the chances of developing Alzheimer’s. Examples of such factors include: smoking, high cholesterol, poorly controlled diabetes, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, high homocysteine levels as well as consuming a diet less of vegetables and fruits (Lu & Bludau, 2011). These factors also result to vascular dementia where blood vessels become damaged in the brain. A good plan to control these factors with the help of a health care team helps to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
The risks of contracting Alzheimer’s disease can be minimized by being engaged socially and lifelong learning practices such as high levels of education, frequent social interactions, a stimulating job as well as engaging in mentally challenging activities such as playing games, playing musical instruments as well as reading.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is another risk factor but not certainly. Mild cognitive impairment causes people to develop memory problems that become worse with age. MCI has not yet been diagnosed as dementia (Lemere, 2013). Earlier diagnoses of MCI helps to effectively deal with Alzheimer’s at an earlier stage. Ben Ahmed, Benois-Pineau, Allard, Ben Amar, & Catheline (2014), suggest that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been identified as an effective biomarker to predict MCI or Alzheimer’s.
Etiology or source of poisoning
Particular changes in the genes, factors in the environment as well as lifestyle factors which affect the brain are believed to be the causes of Alzheimer’s (McKhann et al., 2011). The causes of the disease are not understood fully but the effect of the disease on the brain is clear. The disease begins by damaging the brain cells and later kills them. When compared to a healthy brain, the brain affected by the disease has fewer live cells and less cell-to-cell connections. Death of more brain cells leads to a shrunk brain.
Examination of the affected brain tissue shows the following two types of abnormalities:
1 Plaques: These are protein clumps known as beta-amyloid that destroy the cells of the brains by obstructing the communication from one cell to the other. Though it is not clear as to why brain cells die in Alzheimer’s, the grouping of beta-amyloid outside the cells of the brain is suspected.
2286003810
2 Tangles: Nutrients as well as other important materials are carried by an internal system to the brain cells. This transport and support system requires a structure with a protein known as tau. For individuals with Alzheimer’s, the tau protein threads twist abnormally in the cells causing the transport system to fail. This is also a prime suspect in the death and reduction of the brain cells.
Source: (Blank, O'Mahony & Selwyn, 2007)
Diagram: Tangles and plaques spread in the cortex as Alzheimer’s progress.
Alzheimer’s Pathology
Initially the recent memories are lost and as the disease progresses, the long-term memories are lost. The patients begin to forget information at a high rate. Mild confusion may also be among the only symptoms that can be noticed in the beginning. Worsening of the symptoms varies from one patient to the other. For some patients, the rate at which more symptoms become noticed is high, while for others noticing of more symptoms takes more time (Lu & Bludau, 2011).
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
The changes that occur in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease causes memory problems. For a normal person, it is acceptable to experience memory lapses that are occasional. An individual may forget the name of the next door neighbor or the exact time that they left the house. However, for an individual suffering from Alzheimer’s, the memory loss persists to such an extent that the individual is unable to work or function at home and at the workplace (Lemere, 2013). The patients start by asking questions several times or repeat similar statements without the knowledge that they are repeating things. As the disease progresses, the patients begin forgetting appointments, events and even conversations. These individuals begin misplacing things by placing them at illogical positions. Eventually, they would not remember the names of the members of their own families or even things that they encounter daily.
Patients with this disease usually have problems speaking and writing. The patients have difficulties finding the correct words to use for objects, to express their thoughts or even participate in conversations. Their ability to write as well as read declines with time.
Abstract concepts such as dealing with numbers become challenging and it becomes difficult to manage finances, keeping track of bills and balancing of checkbooks (Lu & Bludau, 2011). In extreme cases, the patients cannot recognize numbers or even deal with them. This indicates that the disease has completely interfered with the concentration as well as thinking of the person.
The affected cannot make sound judgements and logical decisions. Living life becomes challenging even with the most basic things such as unexpected driving or when food burns on stove. Performing familiar tasks and making plans becomes difficult. The patients are unable to conduct routine activities which require cert...