Fifty million U.S. citizens, mostly "baby boomers," will be over the age of 65 by the year 2020, and approximately 1 in 10 of these may have Alzheimer's disease unless research now underway can alter present patterns of incidence. Already in 1990 an estimated four million U.S. citizens have the dreaded dementing disorder. Alzheimer's disease is currently untreatable and its cause of causes are unknown. However, world-class scientists from many disciplines are uncovering valuable clues, from the submicroscopic level of the nerve cell's interior up to the level of the landscape of the living brain, that may well lead to the discovery of the causes of the disease and aid in developing effective methods of diagnosis and treatment. By the end of this century, Alzheimer's disease may well be under control, according to many experts.
Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative illness of the nervous system that destroys one's ability to remember and results in death 2-20 years after its onset. Memory loss does not cause death, however. Rather, death usually results from secondary illnesses, such as pneumonia, which arise because the patient's nerve cells controlling some essential life support function, such as respiration, have been impaired.
Sadly, death is often a blessing for victims of Alzheimer's disease, for at the time of death, most have literally lost their minds. Short-term memory loss is typically the first symptom of the disease. Mild personality changes and speech problems may then set in. Severe cognitive impairment follows. As dementia progresses, people with Alzheimer's disease become increasingly unable to care for themselves and ultimately become totally dependent on others. The burden of caring for the Alzheimer's patient is so great that Alzheimer's disease is said to strike at least one person in addition to the diseased individual.
Alzheimer's disease is by far the leading dementing illness, but it is not the only one. It is estimated that approximately one-quarter of patients thought to have the disease have, instead, one of several other treatable disorders, such as depression or stroke. Unlike Alzheimer's disease, many of these disorders are not only diagnosable but also treatable. For this reason, and because some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease can be alleviated with medication, people concerned with persistent memory problems should visit their doctors.
Plaques and tangles: hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease
The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in living patients is made after excluding other memory-impairing disorders. Even today, however, an absolute diagnosis can only be made after death, by conducting an autopsy. Detection of brain abnormalities called senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles confirms the diagnosis.
Under the microscope, senile plaques appear as large, dark clumps of dead neuron endings. Neurofibrillary tangles are twisted tubular structures within neurons. These signatures of the disease were first noted in 1906 by the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer, after whom the disease is named.
Because senile plaques occur predominantly in regions of the brain associated with cognition, and the number of neurofibrillary tangles correlates with the severity of dementia
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