Alzheimer’s Disease Essay -- Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimers Disease Alzheimers Disease is a disease of the future. With the growing aged population, this disease, which affects primarily the elderly, will become of increasing relevance to the medical checkup profession. Also, the high frequency of Alzheimers, and the high cost in labor, money, and material of caring for its victims shall put goodish burden on the society as a whole. Here, however, these issues argon non going to be debated. Instead the pathology of Alzheimers will be reviewed to the extent it is known today. Alzheimers disease in many ways is not yet defined. It is a progressive disease afflicting between 5 and 15 percent of people over 65. Additionally, it is not restricted to the elderly, reportedly having presented in teenagers. prior(prenominal) to 1960, the term Alzheimers was reserved for presenile dementias resulting in death within 5 years where the classical neuroanatomic changes were seen upon autopsy. Currently, there is still considerable debate as to whether the disease called Alzheimers in the elderly is the same disease as that called Alzheimers in younger people. In addition, recent and one-time(prenominal) research into Alzheimers has been in geared toward defining the disease as much as describing the disease process. Presently, diagnosis of Alzheimers disease is based on characteristic dysfunctions of the individual and on brain biopsy or post-mortem brain autopsy looking for cortical degeneration, a preponderance of plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. Exactly what causes Alzheimers disease is unknown. Aging has been blamed for Alzheimers. The preponderance of cases being among the aged supports this theory but the existence of Alzheimers scattered across the population not explained. Transmissi... ...Transport of Neurofilament as a Mechanism of Pathogenesis Underlying Alzheimers Disease and Many Other Degenerations of the CNS. Normal Aging, Alzheimers Disease and Senile Dementia , 51--67. Katzman, R. , T. Brown, P. Fuld, L. Thal, P. Davies, R. Terry (1986) Significance of Neurotransmitter Abnormalities in Alzheimers Disease. Neuropeptides in Neurologic and Psvchiatric Disease 279-286. Martin, A., P. Browers, C. Cox, and P. Fedio (1985) On the Nature of the Verbal Memory Deficit in Alzheimers Disease. Brain and Language 25, 323-341. Rosen, W. G. , R. C. Mohs, K. L. Davis (1985) Assessing Symptom severity in Alzheimers Disease. Interdis. Topics Geront. 20, 35-42. Wisniewski, H. M., G. S. Merz, G. Y. Wen, K. Iqbal and I. Grundke-Iqbal (1985) Morphology and Biochemistry of Alzheimers Disease. Senile Dementia of the Alzheimers Type 263-274