Alzheimer's Disease

I chose Alzheimer's disease (AD) because I have personally witnessed several individuals affected by the disease.  Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia and is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States.  "Between 2000 and 2006, heart-disease deaths decreased nearly 12%, stroke deaths decreased 18%, and prostate cancer-related deaths decreased 14%, whereas deaths attributable to AD increased 47%" (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19426951).  Several individuals blame old age for their forgetfulness; however, Alzheimer's disease affects a person's memory and cognitive ability. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia.  In order to be diagnosed a patient must have a decline in one of the cognitive abilities listed below:

1)"An ability to generate coherent speech or understand spoken or written language;"

2)"An ability to recognize or identify objects, assuming intact sensory function;"

3)"An ability to execute motor activities, assuming intact motor abilities, sensory function, and comprehension of the required task; and"

4)"An ability to think abstractly, make sound judgments, and plan and perform complex tasks."

(http://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article) 

The decline in an individual's cognitive abilities must affect there daily life in order to consider a diagnosis of AD.  Alzheimer's disease affects a person's nerve cells and the cells deteriorate and die.  The information transfer at the synapses fails, which causes a decline and cells die.  An Alzheimer's patient will have a smaller brain from cell loss and debris from dead neurons.

The cause or causes of AD are still unknown, but the greatest risk factor would be old age.  There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have approved five drugs to slow the worsening of the symptoms.  Women are more likely to have Alzheimer's disease versus men; however, women do live longer than men.  

 

 

 Here are some images below to give you an idea of the affects on a person's brain:

 

 

crystalinks.com

 

 

 

 

 Here are some MRI images below:

 

http://nri.gachon.ac.kr/b_04_e.html

 

http://www.goldbamboo.com/topic-t1059-a1-6Alzheimer%27s_Disease.html

 If you would like any additional info on Alzheimer's disease, please visit 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19426951

or

http://www.alz.org/index.asp