Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease of the brain which causes progressive and irreversible loss of mental function. Leading cause of dementia in the elderly, it affects about 26 million people worldwide. Term paper hint: It is often confused (including statistically) with vascular dementia, whose symptoms are similar, but the etiology is different. Until the 1960s, it was assumed that the disease was rare, but we realized later that in many cases, what was taken for normal aspects of senescence was in fact the disease. The process responsible for the neurodegenerative disease is the formation, between the neurons, amyloid plaques and within neurons of aggregates of tau protein forming neurofibrillary degeneration. The cortical atrophy resulting primarily affects the internal temporal lobe (including hippocampus) and the associative frontal cortex and temporo-parietal at a later stage.

We may provide you with a custom essay on the causes and effects of Alzheimer's disease. The exact causes are still unknown, but it is assumed that environmental factors (heavy metals including mercury in general and indirect exposure via exposure to sugar promote tooth decay, treated with mercury amalgam in wealthy countries and genetic contribute. Mutations in at least four genes predisposing to Alzheimer's disease were identified. They are particularly involved in familial cases to early onset, which represent less than 5% of patients with Alzheimer's disease. For the so-called sporadic form of Alzheimer's disease, several susceptibility genes have been identified. Toxicologists, such as A. Picot, note that the geography of the world of Alzheimer's disease is strongly to the prevalence of caries disease and areas where dental amalgam is the most used.