The Brain and Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's. It's a term we have all heard, if not dealt with on a more personal basis. It is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is a form of memory loss, and is a common term that is used with the older to elderly population. A person can be diagnosed with dementia, but it may never escalate to Alzheimer's. Sadly, Alzheimer's worsens as a person goes on and there is no cure. There are treatments and research that have been found to slow the progression, but never ultimately stop and reverse the effects.

To get more of an anatomical description....
The brain has over 100 billion neurons which all help connect and improve communication throughout the brain and body. Groups of these neurons are specialized in certain tasks (speech, scent, ability to understand, memory).
No one is quite sure how or where the trouble with Alzheimer's starts. However, what happens in an Alzheimer's brain is certain: breakdown. As one can see in the picture, the Alzheimer's brain is significantly smaller and sickly-looking compared to the healthy brain. Plaques and tangles can be to blame for the breakdown but the confusion lies as to where they come from. Plaques are broken protein fragments that take up space BETWEEN neurons. Tangles are twisted fragments of a different protein that build up INSIDE neurons.

The stages
Within the earliest stages of Alzheimers (sometimes before even diagnosis), the neurons that are first affected are those involved in learning/memory and thinking/
planning.

In the intermediate or moderate stage, more plaques and tangles are evident. Individuals may experience more problems with memory and planning. At this point, the plaques and tangles affect speaking and understanding others' speech. They can also affect balance and where one's body is compared to other objects (perception). As the disease progresses more and more, it is common for people to forget who others are; behavioral changes are also common.

In the severe stage, people forget all aspects of how to care for themselves, who others are, and how to communicate. It is at this stage that the brain is found to be exceptionally small, with an extreme amount of cell death.






There is no life expectancy of those with Alzheimer's, but it has been seen that those with it can live up to 10 years after being diagnosed. Unfortunately, as the disease progresses to the severe stage, the body forgets how to care for itself. In two-third of the Alzheimer population, pneumonia is the ultimate killer. Other possible problems that can arise would be immobility, weight loss, not eating, and depression. The body of a person who has late stages of Alzheimer's  does not have much capability of fighting off infections or other sicknesses, thus increasing the risk for catching viruses that can escalate into a bigger problem for those with Alzheimer's.

Not the happiest post, but it is interesting to see the decreasing activity of an Alzheimer brain and the physical deformities that arise.

References
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_4719.asp
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp#brain
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=101