Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration together with declining activities of daily living and neuropsychiatric symptoms or behavioral changes. It is the most common cause of dementia. The most striking early symptom is memory loss (amnesia), which usually manifests as minor forgetfulness that becomes steadily more pronounced with illness progression, with relative preservation of older memories. As the disorder progresses, cognitive (intellectual) impairment extends to the domains of language (aphasia), skilled movements (apraxia), recognition (agnosia), and those functions (such as decision-making and planning) closely related to the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain as they become disconnected from the limbic system, reflecting extension of the underlying pathological process. This consists principally of neuronal loss or atrophy, together with an inflammatory response to the deposition of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Genetic factors are known to be important, and autosomal dominant mutations in three different genes (presenilin 1, presenilin 2, and amyloid precursor protein) have been identified that account for a small number of cases of familial, early-onset AD. For late onset AD (LOAD), only one susceptibility gene has so far been identified: the epsilon 4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene. Age of onset itself has a heritability of around 50%.

History

---

In this sense, the disease was co-discovered by Kraepelin and Alzheimer, who worked in Kraepelin's laboratory. Because of the overwhelming importance Kraepelin attached to finding the neuropathological basis of psychiatric disorders, Kraepelin made the generous decision that the disease would bear Alzheimer's name. Kraepelin, E. J. Psychiat. Res., 1997, Vol 31, No. 6, pp. 635-643

For most of the twentieth century, the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease was reserved for individuals between the ages of 45-65 who developed symptoms of presenile dementia, which was considered to be a more or less normal outcome of the aging process. In the 1970s and early 1980s, because the symptoms and brain pathology were identical, the name "Alzheimer's disease" began to be used, within and outside the medical profession, equally for individuals age 65 and older with senile dementia, and was eventually adopted formally for all individuals with the common symptom pattern and disease course in the psychiatric and neurological nomenclature.

More on [ Alzheimer's disease ]

Alzheimer's - Twitter Search

RT @LLPrater: OMG call the Alzheimer's Home Virginia Foxx wandered off again!/LOL let her go!
BlueBedlam66 (Rose) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:24:46 -0000
RT @LLPrater: OMG call the Alzheimer's Home Virginia Foxx wandered off again!/LOL let her go!
OMG call the Alzheimer's Home Virginia Foxx wandered off again!
LLPrater (LLPrater) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:23:38 -0000
OMG call the Alzheimer's Home Virginia Foxx wandered off again!
RT @crside: Alzheimer's has helped a lot of my family become happy.
MarsVoltron (Trey Glenn) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:23:35 -0000
RT @crside: Alzheimer's has helped a lot of my family become happy.
Know the difference between the warning signs of Alzheimer's and typical age-related behavior. http://bit.ly/2eYO0B
Fight_Alzheimer (Allie Johanson) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:16:53 -0000
Know the difference between the warning signs of Alzheimer's and typical age-related behavior. http://bit.ly/2eYO0B
Headed to UGA Homecoming game hosting a Bakesale for Alzheimer's with my first volunteer/intern. Come visit!
_lr (Lindsay Reene) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:16:11 -0000
Headed to UGA Homecoming game hosting a Bakesale for Alzheimer's with my first volunteer/intern. Come visit!
A link between diabetes and Alzheimer's http://bit.ly/oGFoI
SYNERGYEValley (HomeCare) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:05:13 -0000
A link between diabetes and Alzheimer's http://bit.ly/oGFoI

Subscribe to Alzheimers RSS feed