Alzheimer's Disease

1. Introduction 

Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia affecting memory, thoughts, and behavior of a person. Eventually, the symptoms become severe enough to interfere with everyday tasks. It is a progressive neurological disease that results in irreversible neuronal loss, especially in the cortex and hippocampus of the brain. The clinical symptoms are progressive impairment of memory, judgment, decision making, change in physical environment language [1].

Over time, Alzheimer's disease deteriorates. In its early stages, memory loss is mild but individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and adapt to their environment with late-stage of Alzheimer's. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the World [2]. On average, a person can live four to eight years after the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, but some can live up to twenty years, depending on different factors. 

2. Risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s Disease

The following are the risk factors that are most likely to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease:

• Age more than 65 years
• Family history of the disease
• Disease-associated inherited genes from parents
• Any existing memory impairment
• Unhealthy lifestyle
• Any previous head trauma
• Brain injury
• Down syndrome
• Poor engagement with the community for a very long time.

Alzheimer's is certainly not a typical part of aging. The greatest risk factor is a rise in age, and most individuals with Alzheimer's are over 65. But Alzheimer's isn't only an ailment of mature age as around 200,000 young Americans have this ailment. Alzheimer’s affecting younger people is also known as “Early-onset Alzheimer’s”.

3. Familial Alzheimer’s Disease

Familial Alzheimer’s is associated with some inherited genes or mutational genes from the parents [3]. Many genes are known till now to cause Alzheimer’s disease e.g. Three genes (APP, PSEN1, PSEN2) for early-onset family AD have been described as highly penetrant mutations [4]. A polymorphism in the gene apolipoprotein E has been associated with increased sensitivity in the more typical late-onset form of Alzheimer’s disease [5]. However, recent studies indicate that these four genes account for less than 30 percent of the genetic variation for AD and that more genetic factors remain to be found.

4. Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

The following are the most commonly observed symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease:

• Difficulty in remembering the newly learned information
• Slowed thinking
• Mood and behavioral changes
• Confused thinking and learning
• Severe memory loss 
• Difficulty in learning something

5. Treatment and Prevention

Currently, there is no way to cure and prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Researches aren't sure why some people got this disease and others don't. They are also working to find preventive techniques, as they work to understand this. One thing that may help reduce the risk of this disease is a good healthy diet. A diet that’s high in fruits and vegetables, low in saturated fats from meat and dairy, and high in sources of good fats like nuts, olive oil, and lean fish may help you reduce the risk of heart and neurological diseases.

By: Rimsha Zafar

6. References 

1. R. L. Nussbaum and C. E. Ellis, “Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease,” New England journal of medicine, vol. 348, no. 14, pp. 1356–1364, 2003.
2. W. G. Rosen, R. C. Mohs, and K. L. Davis, “A new rating scale for Alzheimer’s disease.,” The American journal of psychiatry, 1984.
3. C. M. Karch, C. Cruchaga, and A. M. Goate, “Alzheimer’s disease genetics: from the bench to the clinic,” Neuron, vol. 83, no. 1, pp. 11–26, 2014.
4. R. E. Tanzi and L. Bertram, “New frontiers in Alzheimer’s disease genetics,” Neuron, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 181–184, 2001.
5. T.-P. V Huynh, A. A. Davis, J. D. Ulrich, and D. M. Holtzman, “Apolipoprotein E and Alzheimer’s disease: the influence of apolipoprotein E on amyloid-β and other amyloidogenic proteins,” Journal of lipid research, vol. 58, no. 5, pp. 824–836, 2017.