On Alzheimer's Essay
Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s is a progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain. It is the most common cause of premature senility. Symptoms include mental decline, difficulty thinking and understanding, confusion in the evening hours, delusion, disorientation, forgetfulness, making things up, mental confusion, or inability to recognize common things is also effects other thing like behavior and mood but how does it affect the brain and its chemistry? Neurologically, Alzheimer’s (and dementia in general) is characterized by a loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions of the brain. This loss results in gross atrophy of the affected regions, …show more content…
Normal tau protein supplies nutrients to the brain's nerve cells and stabilizes the microtubules that carry messages through healthy neurons. When damaged, though, the tau protein becomes "tangled" inside nerve cell bodies, shutting off the supply of nutrients to the cell. These neurofibrillary tangles collapse the neuron's transport system causing the cell to die. Amyloid beta is another protein used in the normal activity of the brain. But, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, it has been observed to form masses or deposits kind of like tumors, known as amyloid plaques, which serve to disrupt neuronal communication. High levels of amyloid beta can help predict the risk of Alzheimer’s, it is the amount of tau protein that correlates more closely with the development and severity of the disease.
No matter what the argument is, Alzheimer’s is a serious disease claiming many loved ones. It is a very tough disease to deal with especially for the family of the effected, I have feared that my grandmother may have a touch of this because she can’t seem to remember things from for example my childhood. That’s why I took to learning about Alzheimer’s even before this class to see if my grandma had Alzheimer’s but hopefully it’s just her old age affecting her and nothing
Alzheimer’s is a progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain. It is the most common cause of premature senility. Symptoms include mental decline, difficulty thinking and understanding, confusion in the evening hours, delusion, disorientation, forgetfulness, making things up, mental confusion, or inability to recognize common things is also effects other thing like behavior and mood but how does it affect the brain and its chemistry? Neurologically, Alzheimer’s (and dementia in general) is characterized by a loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions of the brain. This loss results in gross atrophy of the affected regions, …show more content…
Normal tau protein supplies nutrients to the brain's nerve cells and stabilizes the microtubules that carry messages through healthy neurons. When damaged, though, the tau protein becomes "tangled" inside nerve cell bodies, shutting off the supply of nutrients to the cell. These neurofibrillary tangles collapse the neuron's transport system causing the cell to die. Amyloid beta is another protein used in the normal activity of the brain. But, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, it has been observed to form masses or deposits kind of like tumors, known as amyloid plaques, which serve to disrupt neuronal communication. High levels of amyloid beta can help predict the risk of Alzheimer’s, it is the amount of tau protein that correlates more closely with the development and severity of the disease.
No matter what the argument is, Alzheimer’s is a serious disease claiming many loved ones. It is a very tough disease to deal with especially for the family of the effected, I have feared that my grandmother may have a touch of this because she can’t seem to remember things from for example my childhood. That’s why I took to learning about Alzheimer’s even before this class to see if my grandma had Alzheimer’s but hopefully it’s just her old age affecting her and nothing