What is Alzheimer's?

Background:

(Photo from Leading Age)

Alzheimer’s is a disease associated with the loss of brain functions, which result in memory, thinking and behavior complications (Liu, Yao, Jiany & Chen 2014). In the early 1900s Alzheimer’s disease was first identified by a brain autopsy of a women who had signs of memory loss and relationship changes with family members (Richarz, Gaudig, Rettig & Schauble 2014). Years later, the disease was named and researched more by a fellow doctor of Alois Alzheimer. As time progressed, technology and education allowed further research to be done on the disease. In the late 1900s, Alzheimer’s was named the most common form of dementia and various doctors and researchers attempted treatment plans (Vos, Xiong, Visser, Jasielelc et al. 2013)
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Facts (WebMD; Alzheimer’s Association):

1. “Estimated that 5.1 million Americans may have Alzheimer's disease
2. “The National Institute on Aging indicates that the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease doubles every five years beyond age 65”
3.  “It is estimated that about a half million Americans younger than age 65 have some form of dementia”
4. “It is estimated that one to four family members act as caregivers for each individual with Alzheimer's disease.”

Factors Associated with Development:

1. Aging is a factor for getting Alzheimer’
1.  Statistics show that as one ages, their likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s increases (Imtiaz, Tolppanen, Kivipelto & Soininen 2014).
2. Genetics
1.  As for many diseases, if a direct family member has or had Alzheimer’s, the chance of you getting the disease is higher than the average person (Wimo, Brayne, Gauthier, Handels & Jones 2014).
3. Sex

1. Women are more at risk than men (Johansson 2014).

Symptoms:

1. Short-term memory loss (Vos, Xiong, Visser, Jasielelc et al. 2013).
2. Aphasia (Vos, Xiong, Visser, Jasielelc et al. 2013).
1.  Aphasia is the inability to communicate with others
3. Apraxia (Vos, Xiong, Visser, Jasielelc et al. 2013).
1. Apraxia occurs when one loses the ability to do daily tasks that came naturally to them at once
4. Agnosia (Vos, Xiong, Visser, Jasielelc et al. 2013).
1.  Agnosia is when a person cannot get information from their environment by using their senses
5. Personality alterations (NIH 2011).
6. Hallucinations
7. Delusions

  Detection Methods:

1.      .  Genotyping (NIH 2011).
2.         Tests measuring memory and cognitive abilities (Vos, Xiong, Visser, Jasielelc et al. 2013).
3.         Insulin Resistance examinations (NIH 2011).
4.         Measuring cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (NIH 2011).
5.         Brain Imaging (Vos, Xiong, Visser, Jasielelc et al. 2013).

  References:

Liu, G., Yao, L., Liu, J., Jiang, Y., Ma, G., Chen, Z., & ... Li, K. (2014). Cardiovascular disease contributes to Alzheimer's disease: Evidence from large-scale genome-wide association studies. Neurobiology Of Aging, 35(4), 786-792. doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2013.10.084

Imtiaz, B., Tolppanen, A., Kivipelto, M., & Soininen, H. (2014). Future directions in Alzheimer's disease from risk factors to prevention. Biochemical Pharmacology, 88(4), 661-670. doi:10.1016/j.bcp.2014.01.003

Wimo, A., Ballard, C., Brayne, C., Gauthier, S., Handels, R., Jones, R., & ... Kramberger, M. (2014). Health economic evaluation of treatments for Alzheimer's disease: impact of new diagnostic criteria. Journal Of Internal Medicine, 275(3), 304-316. doi:10.1111/joim.12167

Johansson, L. (2014). Can stress increase Alzheimer's disease risk in women?. Expert Review Of Neurotherapeutics, 14(2), 123-125. doi:10.1586/14737175.2014.878651

Vos, S., Xiong, C., Visser, P., Jasielec, M., Hassenstab, J., Grant, E., & ... Fagan, A. (2013). Preclinical Alzheimer's disease and its outcome: a longitudinal cohort study. Lancet Neurology, 12(10), 957-965. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(13)70194-7

Wu, J., Wang, Y., Zhang, Z., & Yu, B. (2014). Herbal medicine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Chinese Journal Of Integrative Medicine,

Richarz, U., Gaudig, M., Rettig, K., & Schauble, B. (2014). Galantamine treatment in outpatients with mild Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 129(6), 382-392. doi:10.1111/ane.12195