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Alzheimer’s Disease

Clio Dakolias
What is Alzheimer’s?
- a type of dementia, in the form of an
irreversible, progressive brain disorder
that slowly destroys memory and thinking
skills, and eventually the ability to carry
out the simplest tasks

- symptoms typically appear in mid-60s

- more than 5 million Americans are


currently living with it, no cure
-
- every 67 seconds, someone new is
diagnosed
History of Alzheimer’s
- named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer
- 1906→ noticed changes in the brain
tissue of a woman who died of an
unusual mental illness
- when she died, he found abnormal
clumps and tangled bundles of fibers
in her brain
- as technology progressed, and with
electron microscopes and cognitive
measurement scales, doctors begin to
understand Alzheimer’s better
Dr. Alois Alzheimer
What Causes Alzheimer’s
- the “abnormal clumps and tangled
bundles of fibers” found by Dr.
Alzheimer are now known as amyloid
plaques and neurofibrillary/tangles
- some of the main features of Alzheimer’s
- neurodegenerative disease: progressive
brain cell death over time
- plaques and tangles build up on the
nerve tissue
- the tissue has fewer nerve cells and
connections
Changes to the Brain
- damage to the brain likely starts a decade or
more prior to diagnosis, or before memory
and cognitive problems appear
- abnormal deposits of proteins form amyloid
plaques and tau tangles throughout the
brain, neurons stop functioning, lose
connections with other neurons, and die
- damage begins in the hippocampus, the part
of the brain essential for memories, but as
more neurons die, more parts of the brain
become affected
- as the damage becomes more widespread,
the brain tissue shrinks significantly
What Causes Alzheimer’s?
- scientists don’t fully understand what
causes one to get Alzheimer’s
- arises from a complex series of brain
changes that occur over decades
- most likely include a combination of
genetic, environmental, and lifestyle
factors
- Alzheimer’s is very rarely passed down
as more than 90% of those who are
diagnosed are in their 60s, and it is not
often caused by genes
Link to
Early Onset Familial Alzheimer Disease (eFAD) Spreadsheet on
eFAD:
- hereditary, marked by Alzheimer’s disease symptoms that appear at
an unusually early age
https://docs.googl
- symptoms can start in a person's thirties, forties, and fifties e.com/spreadshee
- if you are diagnosed with eFAD, then one of your parents will also ts/d/1J-
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have had it if he or she lived long enough, and your siblings and
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your children may have a 50-50 chance of having inherited it ouuvvJzP6qB9-
- caused by three known genes: amyloid precursor protein (APP), s/edit#gid=0
presenilin-1 (PS1), and presenilin-2 (PS2)
- virtually the same as Alzheimer’s Disease, but it is genetic, not
sporadic
- between 5 and 10 percent of Alzheimer’s cases are early onset
- around 100,000 to 250,000 people
Signs and Symptoms
most common sign: memory problems

- reduced ability to take in and remember new


information

others:

- impairments to reasoning, complex tasking,


and exercising judgment
- impaired visuospatial abilities that are not,
for example, due to eye sight problems
- impaired speaking, reading and writing
- changes in personality and behavior
Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s
- the person must have experienced a
decline in cognitive or behavioral
function and performance compared
with how they were previously
- this decline must interfere with their
ability to function at work or in usual
activities
- cognitive decline must be seen in two
out of the five symptoms on the
previous slide
Treatment of Alzheimer’s
- care and treatment are interchangeable, as
a cure has yet to be discovered
- treatment/medicinal drugs aim to slow the
degeneration down
- also aims to treat behavioral problems,
which help make people with Alzheimer’s
more comfortable and make things easier
for caregivers
- as the disease progresses, more and more
care becomes required
- as moderate and severe Alzheimer’s arrives,
24/7 care is required, and it is often best to
find a nursing home or assisted living
facility for the patient
Families and Caregivers
- caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s
can have high emotional, physical, and
financial costs
- decisions about placement in a care
facility are difficult
- you often want to be able to take care of
them, but it becomes virtually impossible as
the disease progresses
- need 24/7 care
- many feel wrong about placing their
family member in a facility, almost like
they are abandoning them
Future of Alzheimer’s
- need for a cure is becoming more
urgent
- ⅛ of those 65 and older have the
disease
- 5th leading cause of death in those 65
and older
- numbers expected to dramatically
increase
- scientists recently completely reversed
the disease in mice
Works Cited
“Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Elder Abuse.” A Booming Problem: Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Elder Abuse,
cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/05-2015/alzheimers_dementia_elder_abuse.asp.
“Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet.” National Institute on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet.
“Alzheimer's Disease.” Texas Department of State Services , www.dshs.texas.gov/alzheimers/qanda.shtm.
Campion, D, et al. “EFAD.” American Journal of Human Genetics, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 1999,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1377972/.
“Early Onset Familial Alzheimer Disease.” ALZForumNetworkingforaCure, www.alzforum.org/early-onset-familial-ad/overview/what-
early-onset-familial-alzheimer-disease-efad.
MacGill, Markus. “Alzheimer's Disease: Symptoms, Stages, Causes, and Treatment.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International,
13 Feb. 2018, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159442.php.
Peterson , Rick, and Stephen Green . “Families First-Keys to Successful Family Functioning: Communication.” VCE Publications |
Virginia Tech, 1 May 2009, pubs.ext.vt.edu/350/350-092/350-092.html.

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