The Difficulties of Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease

Since the main symptom of Alzheimer's disease (memory loss) is a very vague and subjective symptom, it becomes very difficult for healthcare providers to diagnose the disease. Memory loss (especially when combined with advanced age) can be attributed to many other factors outside of Alzheimer's disease, as mentioned in this video.

Source: YouTube

Alzheimer's Disease Mechanism [Animation]

This is a video explaining the mechanism of beta-amyloid proteins and neurofibrillary tangles. These are the two major components of Alzheimer's disease that have been identified.

Source: YouTube

What happens in the brain?

The root cause of Alzheimer's disease is still very much unknown, but the mechanism for how it works is mostly identified.

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by structural changes in the brain. (This is why a sure diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is through autopsy.)  Firstly, amyloid plaques are formed as deposits of β-amyloid proteins that can accumulate in the brain, leading to disrupted electrical signals between the neurons that make up the brain. Secondly, there are neurofibrillary tangles, which are collections of twisted protein threads inside neurons which impedes normal brain function. Both these proteins work together to cause the gradual cell death in the brain and leads to increasing dysfunction of the neurons. Synapses (which as the connection sites between communicating neurons) deteriorate and die off and whole brain cells themselves also start to die off. In addition to this, there is also decreased production of neurotransmitters (which are the chemicals used by the brain and nervous system to communicate information). 

All in all, Alzheimer's disease causes problems for communication between the different cells in the brain, therefore negatively affecting brain activity and function.

Source:
Russell, T. (2013, September 20). Alzheimer's Disease. Retrieved January 21, 2015.

How does Alzheimer's disease work? [Video]

This is a quick overview of what happens in the brain of someone with Alzheimer's disease.

Source: YouTube

Racial Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease

African American and Hispanic populations have an increased incidence of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. However, the result of other studies have shown that these racial gaps aren't present when levels of education and socioeconomic status is accounted for. The Alzheimer's Association explains this phenomenon by suggesting that minority groups such as these have higher incidences of health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, both of which increase the risk for developing Alzheimer's. These two conditions are heavily influenced by poverty and lack of higher education, so it would seem that that is the underlying condition behind the racial gap.

*It should be noted that the graph cited above used primarily Caribbean-American populations while most Hispanic populations in the US are Mexican-American. This may have increased the observed prevalence for Hispanics in this study than estimated.

Figure:
Proportion of People Age 65 and Older with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias [Online Image]. (2014). Retrieved January 16, 2015 from http://www.alz.org/downloads/Facts_Figures_2014.pdf

Facts and Numbers on Alzheimer's [Video] + Commentary on Women's Statistics

Approximately 3.2 million women suffer from Alzheimer's disease compared to approximately 1.8 million men. However, it is interesting to note that the reasoning for this is most likely because women on average live longer than men, and with a longer lifespan, there is a higher risk for developing Alzheimer's.

Video: YouTube

Source:
2014 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures. (2014). Alzheimer's & Dementia, 10(2), 6, 16-6, 16. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from http://www.alz.org/downloads/Facts_Figures)2014.pdf

Distribution of Americans with Alzheimer's Based on Age

As can be seen in the figure above, as your age increases, the likelihood of you being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease also increases. From 4% of Americans having Alzheimer's before their 65th birthday, approximately 38% of all Americans over the age of 85 will have this disease.

As our living conditions improve and our medical resources continue to expand, more and more people will entering the >65 age range. Currently, 11% of our 65 and older citizens are faced with Alzheimer's disease. As the population in that age range increase, so will the number of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease in our American population.

Figure:
Proportion of People With Alzheimer's Disease in the United States by Age [Online Image]. (2014). Retrieved January 16, 2015 from http://www.alz.org/downloads/Facts_Figures_2014.pdf

Source:
Hebert LE, Weuve J, Scherr PA, Evans DA. Alzheimer disease in the United States (2010-2050) estimated using the 2010 Census. Neurology 2013;80(19):1778-83.

Prevalence in the United States

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia experienced by Americans, so common that 1 in 9 Americans over 65 years of age currently has Alzheimer's disease. Millions of Americans have some form of dementia and approximately 60-80% of all dementia cases are Alzheimer's, and half of those cases are exclusively Alzheimer's disease.

There was an estimated 5.2 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease in 2014: 5 million people age 65 or older, and around 200,000 people under that age limit with younger-onset Alzheimer's. That being said, only half to the people estimated to have Alzheimer's actually get diagnosed with it, meaning that 2.6 million Americans may not even know they have it.

According to the Alzheimer's Association:
"The number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias will grow each year as the size and proportion of the U.S. population age 65 and older continue to increase. The number will escalate rapidly in coming years as the baby boom generation ages."

That's a pretty scary thought actually. Especially considering the lack of any cure or effective treatment.

Source:
2014 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. (2014). Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 10(2), 6, 16-6, 16. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from http://www.alz.org/downloads/Facts_Figures_2014.pdf

Alzheimer's Disease Death Rates

Alzheimer's disease was ranked 6th on the top ten causes of death in the US by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in 2011.

Since Alzheimer's disease was discovered in 1906, it has only become more and more prevalent as the years progress, leading to a current estimation of over 500,000 senior deaths per year (Alzheimer's Facts and Figures alz.org).

Unfortunately, it is one of the only causes of death on the list of top ten that cannot yet be cured, prevented or slowed.


Source:
"Alzheimer's Facts and Figures." Alzheimr's Assocuation. N.p., 2014. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.

Figure:
Number of Deaths for Leading Causes of Death. Digital image. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Department of Health and Human Services, 27 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2015.

Short Film [Subtitles]

This is a bit sad, but the ending's actually quite sweet.

Source: YouTube

About this blog and me!

Hey all! I'd just like to introduce myself here, so you can get an idea of who I am and where my information is coming from.

My name is Jessica, and I'm a nursing student studying at the University of Washington, and this is a blog dedicated to my Care of Illness class. This is a pretty casual blog, but I'm still hoping that you can learn something from the random tidbits I place on here.

I gather most, if not all, my information from highly credible sources, such as research organizations, reviewed textbooks, and maybe some stuff from lectures I've heard. I will always cite my sources so you can know where my information is coming from. Please be a responsible webaholic and always check for credibility!

This blog has been divided up into separate "Topics" (on the left hand side) where you can get quick access to specified categories of information. These topics will be updated periodically in no particular order, so be sure to check for new updates! :P

Thank you for looking into my blog!

Alzheimer's Overview

Alzheimer's disease is a neurological disease, meaning that it mainly affects the brain. I say mainly because the body systems (e.g. respiratory system, digestive system) do not operate separate from one another. Just like how having a stuffy nose can make a mess of your taste preferences, having a brain disease can affect more than just your memory and reasoning ability.

Alzheimer's is known as a progressive disease, meaning that it gets worse and worse as time goes on. The symptoms may start small, but slowly become more noticeable and increasingly interferes with that person's life-style.

It is a subcategory of dementia, which is catch-all term for loss of memory and other intellectual abilities. Highly common in older adults (though not normal in the aging process), Alzhemier's first sign is usually an impaired ability to learn and retain new information. As the disease progresses, other symptoms start to show, like confusion or mood swings.

Alzheimer's disease still has no cure, but there are treatments available to lessen the severity of the symptoms that Alzheimer's patients may experience as well as slow down their progression. These treatments include medications, monitoring coping mechanisms, forming support systems, and other alternative methods to combat the unwanted symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Currently, there are a great number of researchers dedicating their lives to Alzheimer's prevention, cure, and treatment, so we will continue to move forward in improving the lives of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

**If you or someone you know is showing symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, help and support are available to you at the Alzheimer's Association 24/7 hotline: 1-800-272-3900. Or, visit their website: http://www.alz.org for more information.

Source: click here

Welcome to the Blogspot!

Many of us have heard of the term "Alzheimer's disease", either from a personal experience or from sifting through the infinite amounts of social/news media at our fingertips. But even in that collection of people, there is a good chunk that don't really know what Alzheimer's disease actually depicts.

What happens to your body if you get Alzheimer's? How would you feel? Is it your body that's changing or your mind? How does your life change once you've been diagnosed? Is it expensive to manage or does it even need any management at all? How do other's view you as someone suffering from Alzheimer's?

These are just some of many questions that float into a person's head when they think of Alzheimer's disease. And I can hopefully answer some of these questions with this blog.