Alzheimer’s disease affects the human brain and usually characterized by impairment of memory
Introduction
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease that affects the human brain and usually characterized by impairment of memory and interference in one or more other thinking functions. When Alzheimer’s disease is mentioned, automatically people think of aged people because the disease most often affects adults aged 65 years and above. Future Research
Alzheimer’s disease do not have a cure at the moment but there are treatments that prolong an individual’s memory and awareness. One target that is promising is beta-amyloid. It is a protein fragment that builds up into the plagues known to be the Alzheimer’s disease hallmark. Scientists have come up with several ways to eliminate beta-amyloid from the brain or reducing the chances of it from clumping into plagues. Many other approaches to treatment are being investigated now in the whole world and scientist say that with enough funding, the outlook looks good for treatment development that will stop or slow Alzheimer’s disease.
While preventive measures for Alzheimer’s disease do not exist, emerging research show that precautionary measures that people take to maintain and improve a healthy heart may reduce the risks of Alzheimer’s disease. The connection makes sense since nourishment of the brain is done by networks of vessels that are connected to the heart. Scientific research have also shown that keeping blood pressure, weight, blood sugars, and cholesterol within the required range can reduce the risk of heart disease which as seen above is very crucial in fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits and low in saturated fats, and staying socially and mentally active may all help in protecting the brain.
disease is a form of dementia which is an overall term for conditions and diseases can negatively affect language, memory, and other thinking skills that hinder a person from performing everyday activities. Dementia is mostly caused by Alzheimer’s disease. At least 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease today. It accounts for 60 to 80 percent of case in people with dementia in which 11% of those people are aged 65 and above and one-third of those are 85 years and above. Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis is termed as “diagnosis by exclusion” which means certainty in test for the disease do not exist and instead a number of tests are used to rule out the disease. Early stages of the disease are characterized by short-term loss of memory and as the disease progresses there are signs in decline in critical thinking. In the late stages of the disease, a person with Alzheimer’s disease becomes very disoriented and confused. At this point, the health status of an individual is usually critically deteriorated and may suffer from other diseases that could lead to death. Moreover, most people with Alzheimer’s disease do not die from it but from other problems related to health. Alzheimer’s disease can last approximately between six to eight years but in some instances it can be present in a person without noticeable signs and symptoms for one to twenty years. The disease’s on-set is very slow.
Past and Present Research
Much of the traditional Alzheimer’s disease research has been based on use animal models, often inbred and transgenic mice. However, inbred mice, despite presenting many traits of Alzheimer’s disease such as neurotic plagues, amyloid, gliosis, and neurofibrillary tangles, do not advance to complexities of clinic pathological complexities of human Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, treatments which have worked in such models have not translated to humans.
The Alzheimer’s Association is the largest funder of Alzheimer’s disease research in the world. Since 1982, the association have awarded more than $350 million to at least 2300 researches worldwide. When Dr. Alois Alzheimer described the disease in 1906, people in the United States lived for 50 years in average. Few people reached 65 years which is the age known for highest risk of getting the disease. As a result, the disease was rare and thus attracted little scientific research or interest. Since then the ideology has changed as the average life span of people have increased and scientists have started to realize how often the disease is affecting aged people. Today, Alzheimer’s association is at the front position of biomedical research, with 90% of what people know about the disease discovered in the last 20 years.
Current Findings
There are several clinical trials ongoing right now related to Alzheimer’s disease causes, prevention and cure. The last five years show tremendous increase in research about the disease. While scientists are aware that Alzheimer’s disease involves nerve cells failure, it is still unclear why this happens. However, they have come up with several risk factors that increase the probability of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The first factor is age and according to research findings, it is the greatest known factor that lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Most people with this disease are 65 years and above. The second risk factor is family history. Research has shown that people who have sister, parent, or a brother with Alzheimer’s disease are more likely to get it than people who don’t. Moreover, the risks of getting the disease increases if more than one member of a family has the disease. The third risk factor is genes. Researchers have found out that a number of genes increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. APOE-e4 is the first gene known with the strongest impact. Everyone inherits a copy of APOE from their parents. Those people who inherit a single copy of APOE-e4 have a high risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, who inherit two copies have even an increased risk of getting the disease. There also appears to be a strong connection between risks of Alzheimer’s disease and critical head injuries. Scientific research have shown that head protection is key in reducing the chances of Alzheimer’s disease.
Future Research
Alzheimer’s disease do not have a cure at the moment but there are treatments that prolong an individual’s memory and awareness. One target that is promising is beta-amyloid. It is a protein fragment that builds up into the plagues known to be the Alzheimer’s disease hallmark. Scientists have come up with several ways to eliminate beta-amyloid from the brain or reducing the chances of it from clumping into plagues. Many other approaches to treatment are being investigated now in the whole world and scientist say that with enough funding, the outlook looks good for treatment development that will stop or slow Alzheimer’s disease.
While preventive measures for Alzheimer’s disease do not exist, emerging research show that precautionary measures that people take to maintain and improve a healthy heart may reduce the risks of Alzheimer’s disease. The connection makes sense since nourishment of the brain is done by networks of vessels that are connected to the heart. Scientific research have also shown that keeping blood pressure, weight, blood sugars, and cholesterol within the required range can reduce the risk of heart disease which as seen above is very crucial in fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits and low in saturated fats, and staying socially and mentally active may all help in protecting the brain.
Conclusion
In 2012, Alzheimer’s disease was declared a priority in public health by the World Health Organization. Main reason for the move was due to the aging of population in the world and thus there will be a rise in in numbers of people with Alzheimer’s disease. If treatment is found real quickly, it will be a concerning health issue with high financial burdens. Thus, there is a need for both effective therapies and early diagnosis that could be taken at different stages of the disease. At the moment, treatment for Alzheimer’s disease is only available on short term. While there is development and research already in place, much work is still needed which include basic research in the Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology and its risk factors, clinically and noninvasive effective tools for diagnosis, wider scale efficacy measures for functions of the disease, developing and progressing invention of medicines that slow, prevent, or stop Alzheimer’s disease from occurring, and early diagnosis and treatment with the most effective and appropriate medicine.