Alzheimer's Disease
What if you start forgetting?
The Symptoms
Brain Changes
Diagnosis
Stages
Effects on Family
Awareness
What is Alzheimer's Disease?
Alzheimer's is a disorder in which brain cells are killed off. First discovered in 1906 by a German physician who obtained the diseased named Alois Alzheimers, the knowledge of the disease has gained an incredible amount of fame. Unfortunately the disease has no cure and it is also fatal with progression. Alzheimer's is linked to the nerve cells that are attacked by the disease of the brain. The neurons produce a neurotransmitter end up breaking the nerve cell connections. Normal aging does not include Alzheimer's disease, but affects a large quantity of people now in thier elderly years. Alzheimer's itself is a cause of other illnesses including the most common one, dementia, which affects people of about 65 or older. Here is a short video of how Alzheimer's affects the brain is affected.
Alzheimer's Video
Genetic Links
There are two major types of Alzheimer's, each with a different genetic link. There is Early-Onset Alzheimer's and Late-Onset Alzheimer's. In the Early-Onset Alzheimer's a mutation occurs on chromosomes 1, 14, and 21. All of these mutations cause abnormal proteins to be made. If one mutation occurs the Early-Onset Alzheimer's would most likely develop. Children with a parent diagnosed with it has a 50/50 chance that they will get it also. This type affects people who are 30-60 years old.
In the Late-Onset Alzheimer's scientists have yet to find the specific chromosome exactly but they are almost positive that the mutation occurs on chromosome 19. Chromosome 19 contains the APOE gene that many people with Late-Onset Alzheimer's have.
Comments (22)
rryoung@... said
at 8:19 am on Oct 29, 2009
Add: COLOR, pictures!!!
rryoung@... said
at 8:20 am on Oct 29, 2009
ALL of your pages are lacking in color, pictures and citations/footnotes.
Joseph Wells said
at 9:07 am on Nov 4, 2009
Very in-depth analysis of this disease! Easy to navigate through.
Joseph Wells said
at 9:08 am on Nov 4, 2009
Nice video link too! But, if you link to external sights other than the wiki, its best to open the link in another tab/window so that getting back to the wiki is easier.
Amanda Lengerich said
at 9:10 am on Nov 4, 2009
The brain changes page was really interesting. I always wondered what happened with alzheimer's disease. I never knew the brain shrunk. Good explanations and the pictures are helpful.
Emily Mason said
at 4:54 pm on Nov 4, 2009
Good balance of information and pictures.
Hannah Jenkins said
at 6:49 pm on Nov 4, 2009
Good information and pictures about a common disease that I thought I knew a lot about, but now I feel much more informed.
Jamie Milligan said
at 8:53 am on Nov 5, 2009
Great information and pictures, this site was very helpful in helping me understand what the disease really is.
Cara Maher said
at 8:55 am on Nov 5, 2009
The family effect page is a great touch because some people don't know how to react if their family member has Alzheimer's disease.
Kiran Bassi said
at 8:56 am on Nov 5, 2009
The information is very helpful in understanding what Alzheimer's really is . I have learned a lot about the condition.
Cole Brandt said
at 8:56 am on Nov 5, 2009
The brain change page was very cool, it allowed to see the disease in a different perspective
Emily Buis said
at 9:00 am on Nov 5, 2009
It was really informative. I thought the brain change page was the most interesting, especially the picture comparing the shrunk to a regular brain.
Audra Cokain said
at 9:04 am on Nov 5, 2009
I like the different ways you can get to each page. I really like the cover page with the question at the beginning and the picture. Good info!
Emily Mason said
at 9:32 am on Nov 5, 2009
I especially liked the stages page. I didn't know that Alzheimer's is so hard to distinguish from regular aging.
Bradley Vivace said
at 9:39 am on Nov 5, 2009
The brain changes page was great. The picture comparing a healthy brain to an alzheimer brain was really helpful. I didnt know that its was caused by plaque build up within the brain.
Saumya Nagar said
at 9:43 am on Nov 5, 2009
The graphic with the tangles of brain cells was really helpful in finding out how exacly alzheimer's occurs. It was interesting that relaxing was a way to help prevent alzheimer's disease. Maybe I'll relax more now.
Audra Cokain said
at 9:44 am on Nov 5, 2009
I know someone with Alzheimer's and I didn't know that they went through withdrawals and depression. It's interesting to learn more about certain diseases if you know someone who has it. Good job. :)
Amanda Lengerich said
at 9:49 am on Nov 5, 2009
The brain changes page really helped visualize exactly what happens when you get this disease. I never knew the brain actually shrunk, i guess that explains why a person would have trouble remembering things. It's also interesting that the brain cells get tangled.
Mariah Jones said
at 9:52 am on Nov 5, 2009
I was interested in the plagues and tangles the changes on the brain. Imagining the build up of palgue which is "sticky" id disgusting and the tangles make it seem like the brain is getting misxed up, which defintely helpswith the idea of the barin changing.
Hannah Jenkins said
at 9:53 am on Nov 5, 2009
Often times we just think a person with this disorder is just "going crazy" so it was good to see that their brains actually shrink because of brain cells being killed off and the transport system breaks down. Also, since the changes in the brain occur in places that control different reactions in the body, symptoms could have a wide variety.
Emily Buis said
at 9:56 am on Nov 5, 2009
I did not know that the brain actually shrinks with this disease. This terrifies me, it woule be awful to forget everything.
Leigh Anderson said
at 11:35 am on Nov 5, 2009
Your descriptions of plaque and tangles was very in depth. I have a much better understanding of the disease. I didn't realize plaque could build up in your brain, or that your brain cells can tangle amongst themselves. I knew that your brain cells would die, but I didn't understand how that happened. The picture you have that compares a healthy brain to the advanced alzheimer's brain, really shows the impact this disease has.
You don't have permission to comment on this page.