Alzheimer’s Disease Psychology Research Paper Essay

Alzheimer’s Disease
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Abstract
In 1906 a German doctor, Dr. Alois Alzheimer, explicitly distinguished a collection of brain cell variations as a disease. One of Dr. Alzheimer's patients following quite a while of last memory issues, perplexity and trouble understanding questions. Upon her demise, while performing out a cerebrum post-mortem examination, the specialist noted numerous stores encompassing the nerve cells (neuritic plaques). Inside the nerve cells, he watched wound groups of strands (neurofibrillary tangles). Today, this degenerative mind issue bears Dr. Alzheimer's name, and when found amid a post-mortem examination, this dissease dispaly a precise diagnosis of AD (American Health Assistance Foundation, 2010). A general timeline of the progression of AD reveals that research has come a long way, but there are still hurdles to cross in the present and the future. Following is a detailed list of milestones that have been achieved regarding AD, Alzheimer's Disease is a neurological ailment significantly characterized by "decrease in brain capacity" and "loss of memory." The ailment includes mainly three phases. Distinctive chemical elements and conceivably genetics factors that are in charge of causing the illness. Symptoms can be treated by a provision of adequate supplements to decrease the risk of the illness. Techniques are also available for the treatment and detection which are being expected to be more advanced in the future.
Alzheimer’s Disease
American health assistance foundation (AHAF, 2010) describes Alzheimer's disease as-as a form of degenerative disorder of the brain; it is associated with dementia and the number one cause of memory loss. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is more familiar with adults of 65 years and above. Younger people below the 65-year age bracket can also be diagnosed with the disease but not in very high numbers. Recent research shows it is the 6th in death causing diseases in the United States, and between 2000 and 2015 its mortality rate went up by 123% compared to heart-related diseases which reduced to 11% (Bruno Giordani, Ph.D., 2018). Alzheimer’s disease is classified according to the age groups its effects, for the type common with people over 65 years it is referred to as sporadic Alzheimer’s disease while if it is diagnosed to people below 65 years, rs it is classified as familial Alzheimer’s disease. There is no preventive or curative method for this disease, and it is believed to cause the death of one senior citizen out of three in the United States (Bruno Giordani, Ph.D., 2018). The disease kills more Americans that both prostate and breast cancer put together.
History
Discovered in 1906, Alzheimer’s disease was first diagnosed in a female patient called Auguste by a German psychiatrist and neurologist called Alzheimer Alois (Alzheimer association). The woman was brought to Alois Alzheimer in the year 1901 when her family realized she had problems with her comprehension, speech, and memory. They had also noticed aggressive behaviors characterized by dementia. At her age of 51 years, Dr. Alzheimer took care of her for five years until she passed away in 1906 (discovery of Alzheimer’s disease). These symptoms of memory loss, speech, and language, aggressive behavior made Dr. Alzheimer try and do more research on the causes. After her death, Dr. Alzheimer decided to do an autopsy on her body and brain, and in her brain, he found that the cerebral cortex had shrunk considerably, her brain blood vessels had deposits of fat, and the brain cells had wasted away (Alzheimer association). Dr. Alzheimer consulted other professionals in the field and with the symptoms they discussed the possible disease which was formally put in literature in 1907. It was named after the doctors who discovered it, hence Alzheimer’s disease.
Comparison between Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Ageing
Alzheimer’s disease is closely associated with dementia and aging. Alzheimer’s is more common to aged people, above 65years with over 12.8% estimated to suffer from it. Those over 80years, 30-40% of them have the disease (Erica Seiguer, 2005). Due to this factor, the disease might easily affect those with advanced years. However, normal aging involves loss of physical energy and mobility, loss of hair, gradual loss of sight and hearing and other symptoms.
Dementia, on the other hand, is not a specified disease but symptoms which can lead to the diagnosis of a disease. Dementia can be termed as a decrease in memory and other cognitive abilities and if they advance to a stage which the patient cannot perform his or her normal daily activities. Dementia is also associated with old age but as a symptom of old age. Dementia can be a symptom to many other diseases like Parkinson’s disease and hydrocephalus (Dementia Definition, 2002).
Alzheimer’s Presentation
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease that e presents itself in different stages and depending on the advancement of age. The disease is categorized according to the number of years the patient has had the symptoms. The following are the various stages.
* Early stage or mild Alzheimer’s
At this stage, the patient has had the disease for approximately two years and below, and it is also is associated with mild symptoms or impairments. The decline in cognitive abilities can be seen at this stage but not very visible (Albert et al., 2011). The following are the symptoms at this stage.
* The patient starts having problems with short term memory — for example, a message given a few minutes ago.
* The patient starts having problems expressing themselves in full complete sentences.
* May have problems getting directions, losing the way or even losing items regularly.
* Change of attitude, withdrawal symptoms and general social interactions.
At this stage, the disease is at the middle-temporal lobe, and it may have not spread to other parts of the brain and affect more functions.
* Moderate stage or moderate Alzheimer’s disease
At this stage, the patient has stayed with the disease for up to 10 years, and they have developed moderate symptoms. The disease has spread through the temporal lobe to the parietal lobe of the brain (Bruno Giordani, Ph.D., 2018). There are various symptoms which are visible at this stage:
* Very poor and confused judgment about places, things or even people. The patient may start mistaking family members or even forgetting them altogether. They may not remember directions to the simplest of the places like their bed.
* Inability to finish activities whether simple or complex. The patient might have problems completing the task he/she used to do easily.
* More significant issues with memory loss it might go too long term memories like their birth dates and other information typically stored in long term memory.
* They will be socially inactive and spend most of their time sleeping or withdrawn (Frota, N et al., 2011).
The patient becomes more aggressive as they might think the people around them especially the caregivers are mistreating them. They might be suspicious of everyone and anyone.
Severe Alzheimer’s disease
At this stage, the disease is at its peak, and the condition of the patient is at the worst. The mental capabilities especially the cognitive ability is being severely affected. The disease will have spread to the spread to the occipital lobe, and this means all the four lobes of the cortex are affected (Bruno Giordani, Ph.D., 2018). The following are the symptoms during this stage:
* Lack of coherence in speech. The patient might speak a few phrases or unable to speak at all.
* Partial or total loss of vision and hearing abilities. The visual capabilities of the patient are reduced to a minimum or total loss.
* Physical immobility. This is whereby the patient may be unable to walk without a walking aid or wheelchair.
* Unable to cater for self. This is where they are not able to control the physiological and biological structures of their body. They might require caregivers or someone to help them do normal chores like dressing.
This is the last stage of the disease, and the end to this stage is death. (Frota, N et al., 2011)
Neuropathology of Alzheimer’s Disease
The disease is entirely diagnosed after the patient dies and an autopsy done on them. The autopsy shows some of the following findings.
* Plaques and tangles are seen when the brain cells are viewed from a microscope for a patient who has died of Alzheimer’s disease. In between the neurons in the brain, there is an accumulation of protein fragments (amyloid plaques) which are produced by the body usually (Marcello E et al., 2012). In a normal brain these proteins are supposed to be broken down and gotten rid of by the body system, but in a patient who has Alzheimer’s these proteins accumulate in the brain to form insoluble proteins, therefore, accumulating in the brain. Neurofibrillary tangles are also some form of proteins called tau which are the primary components of microtubules (Marcello E et al., 2012). These microtubules are used as a transportation medium for nutrients between nerve cells. In an Alzheimer’s patient, these microtubules are seen as collapsed when the brain cell is looked at through a microscope.
Due to this phenomenon when an Alzheimer’s patient is examined, ed there are unusual structures and cells which is as a result of the accumulation of the proteins. The shrinkage in the cortex and the global brain is due to the collapsing of the microtubules, and this might also result in less total brain weight.
This synaptic dysfunction is what causes the failure of the brain to functions usually. It affects the communication between neurons in the brain and eventually the failure in mental or cognitive functions exhibited by the patient (Igor O. Korolev (2014). As the damage to the brain progresses to other parts, that is the frontal cortex the patient starts to exhibit symptoms associated with damage to the limbic system. The more the neurodegeneration, the more the symptoms are exhibited by the patient.
Early Alzheimer’s Disease Detection and Risk Factors
There is no conclusive scientifically proven method to detect the disease in its early stages up to now. However, there are various imaging systems available which are used to describe biomarkers that are seen in the early stages of the disease indicating high chances of having the disease. These imaging systems can be accurate and reliable. There are also other diagnostic tools being proposed to capture the diagnosis of the disease especially dementia at its progressed stage.
The imaging systems include:
* Brain imaging with magnetic resonance imaging
* Molecular neuroimaging with positron emission tomography
Imaging method has been used in the recent not necessarily to diagnose the Alzheimer’s disease, but they are used to rule out other disease and their symptoms. For example, they can use to rule out the possibilities of head injuries or other causes of dementia which may leave the doctor with Alzheimer’s as the disease to diagnose.
Each imaging mode has its weakness and advantage. Therefore, they might be used together or alone, but they cannot be single-handedly used to diagnose a disorder. In the future, the challenge to imaging might be how to combine these biomarkers and come up with a conclusive diagnosis and ways to modify therapy. Imaging is currently being used to point to cortex changes whether functional or structural, their patterns and characteristics (Johnson, K. A et al. 2012). In this context, an image can show that presence of growth- amyloid deposits in the brain tissue through amyloid imaging (Burton EJ et al. 2009). With this development, a patient’s brain image can help visualize how the tissue looks like. Although not very conclusive at the moment, imaging is providing prognostic data ate the early preclinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
* Structural MRI
Atrophy is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease that can be seen in an image taken through an MRI. With an estimated accuracy of 80-85%, MRI is giving a good prediction on Alzheimer’s disease by enabling doctors to assess the mid-temporal part of the brain (Burton EJ et al. 2009). In an Alzheimer’s patient MRI image, the hippocampal atrophy is seen as being more severe than in a normal dementia patient (Johnson, K. A et al. 2012). There is a visible presence of
Lewy bodies or vascular dementia when results are matched to the severity clinically. However, these results can be misleading because they are even more severe when seen in anterior temporal lobe as seen in an Alzheimer’s patient. Therefore, to differentiate between dementia on its own and Alzheimer’s disease the pattern and features of these different dementia images have to consider. For example, the front, al temporal lobe atrophy was seen in MRI would suggest there is front, al temporal dementia while changes in the signals of the white matter may be an indicator of vascular dementia.
Measuring the progression of Alzheimer’s disease using structural MRI we have to remember the fact that cerebral atrophy can at times start early, that is even the symptoms are visible, but increased and continued atrophy as seen in the MRI means that the patient has the markers of the disease and therefore a potential capability in the progression of the disease when measures in the trials are correlated is correct (Dubois B et al, 2007)
MRI has shown that it is possible to get the thickness of the cortex and the change experienced therein; however, this approach still needs the capability to modify therapies needed for inhibiting Alzheimer’s disease.
Disadvantages of structural MRI
* MRI cannot directly discover the authentication mark in the history of the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. There are no molecular specifications. This is because of the cerebral atrophy id not specific in the context of the results of damage to the neurons (Dubois B et al., 2007).
* MRI shows changes in the volume other than the loss in the neurons, and it might not be evident when there is a short term assessment.
* MRI cannot be used for assessment of the functions of the brain tissues.
* Functional MRI
Functional MRI is continually being used to assess the integrity of brain neurons for their cognitive capabilities before and after aging to detect the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. Change in the flow of blood, blood oxy-hemoglobin, blood volume, and blood de-oxyhemoglobin ratios is seen as to reflect the combined activity in the synapses of the neurons, it is used to measure the synaptic activity which in turn reflects the fluoro-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG)-PET and can also be used to measure the blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) (Johnson, K. A et al. 2012).
Studies using functional MRI show that there is hyperactivity in the early stages of mild cognitive impairments compared to lack or reduced activity in the later stages of mild cognitive impairments similar to Alzheimer disease.
Disadvantages of functional MRI
* There are more than one complications experienced when conducting functional MRI studies across patients with degenerative dementia. Patients with severe cognitive impairments, functional MRI will have problems.
Risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease
Risk factors are attributes of the individual, a way of life, condition, and hereditary foundation that add to the probability of getting a disease. Risk factors alone are not reasons for infection. Risk factors speak to an expanded chance, however not a conviction, that Alzheimer's will develop.
Some risk factors are modifiable, which implies they can be changed (e.g., smoking, hypertension); other risk factors are non-modifiable, which implies they cannot be changed (e.g., age, hereditary cosmetics).
There is not one known and proven single cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, there are many factors and risks which may lead to the disease manifesting in a patient. Age, genetics, surrounding or the environment, lifestyle, and nutrition are some of the known causes of Alzheimer’s disease. There are two types of risks, modifiable and non-modifiable. Modifiable are those risks which can be prevented by adopting the best and healthy living behaviors. Non-modifiable means those that come naturally and cannot be changed. Here are some of the non-modifiable risks.
* Family background or history
Family history relates to the occurrence of the disease along the family tree from the forefathers and downwards. Family background determines the probability of diagnoses with the disease. The biological DNA make up is transferred from one generation to another, from the parent to the child. The history is important because if the parents are victims of this disease, so then there are very high chances that the child might be susceptible to the disease.
* Age
Alzheimer's disease is certainly not an ordinary piece of maturing age yet is the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer's infection. This does not imply that a majority of people develop sickness as they age. Most do not. Some more youthful individuals, in their 35s or 60s, are determined to have the youthful (early) beginning type of the illness.
The primary known and accepted cause of Alzheimer’s disease is age. Alzheimer’s is more common at 65 years and above and the higher age, the worse it becomes. It has not been proven scientifically, but it is believed that aging and Alzheimer’s are directly associated with each other. In the year 2018 over 180,000 people were living with the disease in the state of Michigan, and this figure is just for one state, 79.000 of those were 85years and above, and 28,000 were between 65-74 years (Bruno Giordani, Ph.D. 2018). This shows the older, the higher the chances of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
* Genetics or hereditary
Biologically our bodies are composed of strands of DNA which we inherit from our parents. Biologically if the parents possess a risk gene which can be called a carrier age, one it might be passed from one generation to another. This passing over of genes is what is referred to as the genetic or hereditary cause of Alzheimer’s.
These causes can act on their own either singularly or together to cause Alzheimer’s. However, there are some risk factors which can be influenced by these causative factors to make it even more possible to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Here are some of the risk factors which elevate or trigger the causes of Alzheimer’s disease.
* Smoking
There is a 45% higher risk of a smoker to be diagnosed with an Alzheimer’s disease than a nonsmoker. Cigarette smoking is associated with a couple of diseases, and many of these diseases can be at the same time symptoms or causative agents of Alzheimer’s. They include diabetes, dementia, cancer, and many cardiovascular diseases. Cigarette smoking is causally identified with a wide scope of ailments including numerous types of cardiovascular malady, diabetes, and cancer. The proof is solid and reliable that smokers (versus non-smokers or ex-smokers) are at a 40% higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. They are likewise at a higher danger of getting vascular dementia (even though the proof is not exactly as solid) and even different types of dementia. Likewise, ex-smokers reduce the risk by not smoking. This is an empowering finding for dementia counteractive action, recommending, likewise with other antagonistic effects of smoking, that increased the risk of dementia can be kept away from by stopping smoking.
* Diabetes
A patient with diabetes is at a higher risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s especially if they ate their advanced age. Insulin...