Alzheimer's Disease

Esraa Nazmy Ahmed Elhelow147

• It was named after the German physician ; Dr. Alois Alzheimer .

Alzheimer’s Disease

• In 1906 , he presented a case history before a medical meeting of a 51-year-old woman who suffered from a rare brain disorder. A brain autopsy identified the plaques and tangles that today characterize Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that attacks the brain's nerve cells, or neurons, resulting in loss of memory, thinking and language skills, and behavioral changes. 

Types of Alzheimer’s

There are 2 types of Alzheimer’s :

Familial Alzheimer’s Disease Sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease

(FAD) (SAD)

between age 30 – 60 at age over 65

How does Alzheimer’s take place !!

Two types of abnormal lesions clog the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease:

Beta-amyloid plaques

Neurofibillary tangles

How are plaques and tangles are formed !!

How plaques and tangles are formed !!

To watch this video online please visit :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj3GGDuu15I

How do they work !!

APP   Aß⇒ 42   fibrillar Aß and oligomers   amyloid plaques⇒ ⇒

amyloid plaques   inflammation and NFTs   neuron death ⇒ ⇒and synapse loss

Stages of disease

To watch this video online please visit :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wv9jrk-gXc

Stages of Disease

Symptoms of AD

Intellectual Psychiatric

Symptoms Symptoms

Intellectual Symptoms (4 As of AD)

AMNESIA

APRAXIA

AGNOSIA

Psychiatric Symptoms

Psychiatric Symptoms

HALLUCINATIONS

Diagnosis of AD

• Taking complete medical history .

• Conducting lab autopsy (which pathologists look for the disease's characteristic plaques and tangles in brain tissue) .

• Neuro-psychological tests .

What we find is ….

Factors increasing chance of

having Alzheimer’s disease :

1-Age>65 years . More than

85 years increases risk to 50% .

2-Family history . 3-Genes . 4-Head injury . 5- Brain health is connected to

heart health . So high blood pressure ,

high cholesterol and stroke can increase

risk of having Alzheimer’s disease .

Treatment of AD

• Till now there is NO cure for Alzheimer’s.

• But the (FDA) has approved several medications for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease which may help slow progression of symptoms and improve quality of life.

References :• Smith 1998a

• Liu etali 2005; Marlattetal 2005

• Human Physiology ;2010 , 2009 , 2007 Pearson Education , Inc. , publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings, 1301Sansome St. , San Francisco .