What is Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects the brain and is characterized by the gradual loss of cognitive and neurological abilities.

The disease is progressive. Over time, it slowly destroys memory, thinking and social skills, and limits the patient’s ability to conduct a basic conversation. Eventually, patients lose the ability to conduct the simplest daily tasks.

As Alzheimer’s progresses, some of these complications can affect other physical functions of the body, such as swallowing, balance, and bladder control. Additional serious health problems such as dehydration, malnutrition, and inhaling food or liquid into the lungs can occur, resulting in death. Someone with Alzheimer’s can get pneumonia or other various infections easily. They can also fall more easily and have body fractures more frequently.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia among adults and accounts for 60% to 80% of dementia cases.

In most people, AD symptoms occur in the mid-60s, but this disease is not considered a normal part of aging. In some rare cases, the symptoms can affect people between the ages of 30 and 60. Approximately 200,000 Americans under the age of 65 have younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease, also known as early-onset Alzheimer’s.

A person with Alzheimer’s can lead a normal life for four to eight years after being diagnosed. In the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, severe loss of brain function can lead to various complications for patients. However, depending on other factors, patients can live normal lives for up to twenty years.

Alzheimer's Disease Types

Most patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease will have the same symptoms eventually. These include memory loss, confusion, trouble making decisions, and doing daily familiar tasks.

Though the effects are almost similar for all patients, there are two types of Alzheimer's disease:

Early-onset:

Early-onset is a rare type of Alzheimer’s disease, and only less than 10% of people have this form of Alzheimer’s. The signs of early-onset Alzheimer’s first appearance in a person’s 30s-mid-60s. It is usually caused by genetic changes passed down from parents to offspring.

Late-onset:

Late-onset is the most common type of Alzheimer’s disease, in which symptoms appear in the mid-60s. There is no specific gene that directly causes this type of Alzheimer’s. However, one gene may be a risk factor. One allele (a variant form of a given gene) of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) increases a person’s risk of having this type of Alzheimer’s. Still, having an APOE allele doesn’t guarantee that the person will have Alzheimer’s. Some people with an APOE allele have not developed the disease and others who have Alzheimer’s do not necessarily have the allele.

Alzheimer History

In 1907, Alois Alzheimer, a German physician who lived between the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, published an article entitled "The Severe Disease Characteristic of the Cerebral Cortex," which presents the clinical findings of the patient Auguste D., 51 years, when she experienced symptoms of deliria.

She had symptoms like difficulty communicating, memory deficiencies, and felt disoriented in time and space, which became worse progressively. Auguste died four and a half years after the onset of advanced dementia symptoms.

Tests performed after her death may suggest that in Alzheimer's disease it is possible to observe the accumulation of specific plaques in the extracellular space and neurofilamentary lesions within the neurons in the cerebral cortex.

In 1912, a German professor of psychiatry E. Kraepelin wrote his first dissertation on the subject, "This Disease Described by Alzheimer's Disease." From that moment on, the eponym Alzheimer's disease was used to describe cases of dementia that presented clinical and neuropathological characteristics similar to the patient Auguste D and occurred before the age of 65.

For several decades, this diagnosis was common for cases of pre-senile degenerative dementia, as opposed to cases of senile dementia. In the late 1960s, studies showed that Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia were the same clinical-pathological condition, although they presented some differences in clinical presentation.

In the 1970s, the term Alzheimer's disease was used to describe cases of degenerative dementia that presented the brain lesions described as senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles

In 1984, a group of researchers proposed diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease, which aided clinical care activity. With the increase in the life expectancy of the world population in the last decades, Alzheimer's disease has become a serious collective health problem.

Today, Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Conventional medicine has not found a cure for it yet. However, Alzheimer’s disease symptoms can be treated to improve the patient’s quality of life as well as that of the people around them.

Alzheimer’s Disease Causes

Science has not come up with conclusive evidence about the causes of Alzheimer's disease yet. However, scientists believe that Alzheimer's disease is mostly caused by a combination of bodily malfunctions, deficiencies, genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors that affect the brain over time.

Below is a list of the possible causes of Alzheimer’s disease:

- Beta-amyloid accumulation: circulation of high levels of cholesterol in the blood leads to an increase in the formation of beta-amyloid plaques.  They form when proteins clump together and result in a hard, insoluble plaque. This plaque accumulates between the brain’s neurons, disrupting cell communication and function. This eventually results in the death of these cells. When brain cells degenerate and die, they can no longer process, store, and retrieve information. This leads to one of Alzheimer’s symptoms: impaired memory.

- Neurofibrillary tangles: an increase in enzymes called tau kinases disrupt the function of tau proteins. Their structure changes and they clump up, forming neurofibrillary tangles. The tangles disrupt the brain cell communication and damage cells.

- Blood flow deficiency: the brain must receive adequate blood flow to transport all the necessary nutrients to the cells. However, in Alzheimer’s disease, blood clots damage blood vessels. As a result, the parts of the brain that are responsible for memory such as the amygdala and the hippocampus don’t receive enough blood. This results in loss of brain function.

- Inflammation: inflammatory markers, such as cytokines, play a vital role in fighting off infection or injury when the body is in danger. However, as the levels of inflammatory markers increase in the body, cytokines start attacking parts of the brain and damaging healthy neurons.

- High cortisol levels: increased levels of cortisol are associated with stress. Higher cortisol levels also cause Alzheimer’s disease to progress faster. This is because the increase in cortisol levels is linked to the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques.

- Hypercholesterolemia: occurs when cholesterol levels in the body are high. It increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease because the circulation of high levels of cholesterol in the blood leads to an increase in the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques.

- Diabetes: diabetes weakens the blood vessels, which increases the likelihood of the patient having mini-strokes in the brain, causing forms of dementia. A high intake of simple sugars can make brain cells insulin resistant, which could cause the brain cells to die.

Long-term diabetes—either type 1 or type 2—has many consequences for the brain and neurons in the brain. A high level of glucose in the blood can cause the brain to shrink. It can also lead to small-vessel disease, which restricts blood flow in the brain, causing problems in thinking and cognition. If small vessel disease is severe enough, it can promote the development of vascular dementia.

- Harmful lectins:  harmful lectins may cause a glycation reaction that may be a significant factor in amyloid plaque development. The glycation reaction—an interaction between sugars and proteins—leads to arterial and brain damage. The more the arteries are damaged, the worse the circulation to the brain becomes. This leads to less nutrient supply to the brain, causing brain cells to starve and die, contributing to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Factors

Scientists are trying to shed some light on the risk factors that might lead to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) to better understand what goes on in the brain.

The possible risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease are listed below:

- Down syndrome: people with Down syndrome have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. This is because the genetic mutation that causes Down syndrome can also cause amyloid plaques to build up in the brain over time. This can lead to Alzheimer’s disease in some people with Down syndrome.

- Age: this is the biggest risk factor, and the majority of people with Alzheimer’s disease are 65 and older. The risk increases with age, affecting an estimated 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 and 1 in every 6 people over the age of 80 in the UK. However, those who are above 65 are affected by Alzheimer’s disease are not the only people who can get Alzheimer’s.  Approximately, 200,000 Americans under the age of 65 have early-onset Alzheimer’s.

- Genetics: 70% of the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease can be attributed to genetics. Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease is associated with the most common risk gene called apolipoprotein E (APOE), which increases a person’s risk of developing the disease. Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease is associated with mutations in some genes that produce abnormal proteins that are related to Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms

Alzheimer’s disease damage starts in the hippocampus or the area that controls memory. This damage starts years before the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s appear. The damage of neurons would eventually spread to other parts of the brain, and over time cause the brain to shrink.

The initial symptom of Alzheimer’s disease is the loss of memory, such as a person’s day-to-day personal activities. Over time, the remote memories are lost too, such as the memory of relatives.

Patients will face difficulty communicating verbally and become unable to use familiar objects.

Other symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease include:

- Loss of memory

- Loss of cognitive function

- Behavioral disorders such as aggressiveness, depression, and apathy

- Language deficiency

- Visuospatial skills deficiency

- Problems swallowing

- Difficulty eating and a reduced appetite

Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis

There is no specific test that can officially diagnose Alzheimer's disease. Doctors usually perform a clinical evaluation, including cognitive tests to diagnose it.

Doctors can request imaging tests such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to check for any signs of damage in the brain.

There are no laboratory tests to diagnose Alzheimer’s, but doctors can use lab tests to rule out other possibilities that may cause memory loss or confusion.

After conducting cognitive and imaging tests, based on the results and clinical reports, the doctor decides what the best course of treatment is, depending on the person’s case.

Natural Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease

There are many natural solutions that can deal with Alzheimer. Some solutions can prevent the onset of the disease, while other solutions are believed to be able to treat and reverse the condition.

Click on natural treatments for Alzheimer to find all the natural solutions to treat Alzheimer's disease and reduce its symptoms, including various natural therapies, diet programs, alternative medicine, vitamins, supplements, herbal medicine, and home remedies.

You can also go to www.aposbook.com to find all the natural treatments for any medical condition IN ONE CLICK.

Meanwhile, each one of the natural solutions for Alzheimer is based on a different scientific hypothesis and considers possible different factors that might cause this disease. 

However, most of these cures are focused on providing the brain cells with the proper nutrition and oxygen to keep thriving, so the brain can maintain its functions. Accordingly, they work to support proper metabolism of nutrients to maintain brain functioning or focus on removing the various obstacles that prohibit oxygen and nutrients from reaching the brain.

The natural solutions that can treat, prevent, or reverse Alzheimer’s disease include the following:

- Diet: one of the causes of Alzheimer is due to the inability of the brain to process glucose properly and use it as a source of nutrition to maintain its functions. Some diets can overcome this problem of glucose metabolism in the brain and provide the brain with alternative sources of nutrition and energy, known as ketones that can be better processed by the brain.

- Nutritional supplements: Some nutritional supplements can help treat Alzheimer’s disease by preventing the accumulation of beta-amyloid that kills the brain cells. Other supplements can help restore blood flow to the brain, preventing the death of brain cells and the deterioration of various brain functions.

- Herbs and plants: different herbs tackle different causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Some herbs and plants can prevent or slow the accumulation of beta-amyloid. Some other herbs can restore adequate blood flow to the brain. To use the appropriate herbal treatment, one must understand the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

Medical Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

There’s  no cure yet for Alzheimer’s disease, but two types of medication might help relieve and manage some symptoms of the disease:

- Cholinesterase inhibitors: Alzheimer’s disease reduces the levels of the chemical messenger acetylcholine, which is important for memory and cognition. Cholinesterase inhibitors boost the amount of acetylcholine available to neurons by preventing it from breaking down in the brain. However, cholinesterase inhibitors can’t reverse the disease or stop the deterioration of the nerve cells.

Examples of cholinesterase inhibitors include Donepezil, Galantamine. and Rivastigmine. Donepezil has been approved to treat all stages of the disease, while Galantamine is used to treat mild-to-moderate stages of the disease.

- Memantine: this drug is used to treat moderate-to-severe cases of Alzheimer’s disease. It works by regulating the activity of a chemical messenger widely involved in brain functions.

These drugs cause side effects including diarrhea, nausea, loss of appetite, confusion, and sleep disturbances. The side effects could be an inconvenience for patients with Alzheimer’s, since they may already experience some of these symptoms.

Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention

Visit the Alzheimer Prevention Center to check all the information on how to prevent Alzheimer or reduce its symptoms, including the different lifestyle changes to make, recommendations to follow, and things to avoid.

These include, among many other suggestions:

- Healthy eating habits and proper food and nutrition

- Brain stimulation to improve memory

- Weight loss

- Different strategies to deal with the disease