Varishta  વરિષ્ટ
Dedicated to increasing awareness about dementia and mobilising support for those affected.

ગુજરાતીમાં ડિમેન્શિયા વિષે માહીતી મેળવવાનું એકજ સ્થાન
  • Varishta
  • Dementia
    • Alzheimers
  • Blog
  • વરિષ્ટ
  • ડિમેન્શિયા
    • અલ્ઝાઈમર્સ >
      • લક્ષણોનું નિયમન
  • ગુજરાતી બ્લોગ
  • About
    • Founder
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Book

Alzheimer's Disease: Pathology, Causes & Genetics

Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a clinical psychiatrist and neuroanatomist, reported in 1306 that he had found plaques and neurofibrillary tangles during the autopsy of the brain of one of his patients, Auguste Deter. She had exhibited paranoia, progressive sleep and memory disturbance, aggression, and confusion. The disease came to be known as Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Now we know that the the senile plaques that form in the brain are of beta amyloid (Aβ) and the tangles are of tau protein. Aβ damages synapses, and kills neurons. The hippocampus and entorhinal cortex are most severely affected in AD. The hippocampus  is the area of the cortex that is critical for learning and creating new memories. The entorhinal cortex is like a network for memory and navigation.

Genes play a part. The ε4 allele of apolipoprotein is the major genetic risk factor for AD. There are three types of the APOE gene: APOε2, ε3 and ε4. Everyone has two copies of the gene, one from each parent resulting in various combinations. Having one APOε4 allele increases the risk of getting AD, while having two increases it much more. However having two APOε4 genes does not necessarily lead to the disease.

General health conditions may aggravate AD, if they contribute to chronic cellular damage or loss of neurons and synapses. No environmental agents (e.g., viruses, toxins) have been proven to be directly involved in the pathogenesis of AD. It is often speculated that late-onset AD is the result of unknown environmental factors acting on a predisposing genetic background. The exact reason for the development of tangles and plaques is still not understood. With more focus on the disease and greater effort and being put into research, one hopes that there will be a way to prevent the disease in the future.
Picture
Picture
Sources:
Hippius H, Neundörfer G. The discovery of Alzheimer’s disease. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 2003;5(1):101-108.

Bird TD. Alzheimer Disease Overview. 1998 Oct 23 [Updated 2015 Sep 24]. In: Adam MP, Ardinger HH, Pagon RA, et al., editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2017. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1161/
Contact us if you need counseling for Dementia. We provide counseling online in Gujarati & English.
ડિમેન્શિયા વિષે વધુ જાણવા માટે, અથવા સલાહ માટે અમારો સમ્પર્ક કરો. ફોન / ઓનલાઈન કૌન્સ્લીંગ ઉપલબ્ધ છે.
Contact us to learn more or to contribute to the cause.

Varishta is an initiative by Silversmile Eldercare Foundation, a not for profit company registered u/s 8 of the Companies Act 2013, created to spread awareness about dementia in the elderly caused by Alzheimer's and other diseases and  provide support for elders with dementia and their caregivers. Varishta provides information about dementia in Gujarati, and provides counseling and training about dementia in English and Gujarati.

Information provided by this site is intended to increase awareness, and is not a substitute for medical advice.
The graphics on the site are created by Daksha Bhat, or used with the permission of their respective owners, or under a creative commons license. Please do not copy or reuse any part of the site. You may contact us if you wish to use any content.