Alzheimer's Disease Pathophysiology - Inside The Cells And Neurons

Until some decades ago Alzheimer's disease was considered natural process of aging and senile. Alzheimer's disease was considered a separate disease or disorder only in the 1970s. After much investigation and the boom in neurosciences in the 1970, this was what took place. The disease has been discovered as the most common mode of dementia in the aged population. More than 24 million people suffer from Alzheimer's disease in the world today. This disease has come to be a major problem in the world today.

The pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation of the amyloid plaques and neurofibrallary tangles. There is the loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and other sub cortical areas. The amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are clearly visible in the tests that are done on the brain of the patients.

The Amyloid plaques are insoluble deposits that are dense. They contain amyloid-beta protein and other material outside and around the neurons. Insoluble twisted fibers that are accumulated inside the nerve cells are called Tanglers. The brains of Alzheimer's disease patients contain much greater quantities of the plaques and tangles even though they grow in the neurons of many aged or elderly people. The fact is that these components grow up around the cells of Alzheimer's disease patients to a much greater extent.

The health of the patients suffers in this manner. The disease is a protein misfolding disease. This is because of the collection of abnormally folded A-beta and Tau proteins in the brains of the patients. The Beta Amyloid fragments are accumulated outside the cells or they come together as clumps and deposit outside the cells as senile plaques. There is synaptic and neuronal cell death. There is also granulovacuolar degeneration in the hippocampus and the amyloid deposition on the blood vessels and this leads to the disease. The health problems of the patient range from the confusion, long-term memory loss, language breakdown, mood swings and other such functions. The areas of the brain affected include the judgment, attention, decision-making ability and other such functions. There are also the familial causes of the disease. The genetic mutations in chromosomes 21, 14 and 1 are shown to lead to the onset of the disease. These are familial early onset cases. The pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease concludes that it is a type of dementia that affects elderly people mostly above the age of 65. The disease is widely prevalent in America and the 4 million Americans are affected by it. The disease has a pattern of symptoms. The disease is connected or aging. There is the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. There is pattern of the onset of the symptoms of the disease. These patterns gradually reveal themselves or quickly appear. If the pattern unfolds slowly the progress of the disease is slow and if the pattern unfolds fast the progress of the disease is fast.

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