Different stages of Alzheimer's disease progression
What is Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and eventually leads to an inability to perform the simplest tasks. Most people with Alzheimer's disease begin to experience symptoms around age 65. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in older adults.
The disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. In 1906, Dr. Alois Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable behavior. After his death, he examined her brain and found many abnormal clumps (now called amyloid plaques) and twisted bundles of fibers (now called neurofibrillary tangles, or tau tangles).
These plaques and tangles are still considered one of the main features of Alzheimer's disease. Another feature is the loss of connections between neurons (nerve cells) in the brain. Neurons carry messages between different parts of the brain and from the brain to muscles and organs in the body.
While treatments can help some people manage symptoms, a cure for this devastating disease is not currently known.
What happens in the brain of someone with Alzheimer's?
Scientists continue to unravel the complex brain changes that occur in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's. It seems likely that brain damage begins a decade or more before memory and other cognitive problems become apparent. In the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's, people appear to have no symptoms, but toxic changes are occurring in the brain. Abnormal deposits of proteins form amyloid plaques and tau tangles, and healthy neurons stop functioning, lose connections with other neurons, and die.
Damage initially appears in the hippocampus, the part of the brain where memories are formed. As more neurons die, other parts of the brain begin to be affected. In the final stages of Alzheimer's, damage becomes so extensive that brain tissue shrinks significantly.
How many people in the United States have Alzheimer's?
Estimates vary, but experts believe that more than 5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's. If current population trends continue, the number of people with the disease will increase significantly unless the disease can be effectively treated or prevented. That's because the risk of Alzheimer's disease increases with age, and the U.S. population is aging.
How long can someone with Alzheimer's disease live?
Alzheimer's disease is a slowly progressive disease that occurs in three stages: an early, asymptomatic preclinical stage, a mid-stage mild cognitive impairment stage, and a final Alzheimer's dementia stage. The time from diagnosis to death varies from person to person -- it can be as little as three to four years if the patient is diagnosed over the age of 80, or as long as 10 years or more if the patient is younger.
Alzheimer's disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but recent estimates suggest the disease could become the third leading cause of death among older adults, behind only heart disease and cancer.
What is dementia?
Dementia is a loss of cognitive function (thinking, memory, and reasoning) and behavioral abilities that is severe enough to interfere with a person's daily life and activities. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it just begins to affect a person's function, to the most severe stage, when a person must become completely dependent on others for basic activities of daily living.
The causes of dementia can vary, depending on the type of brain changes. Other dementias include Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal disorders, and vascular dementia. People often have mixed dementias - a combination of two or more disorders, at least one of which is a dementia. For example, some people have both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.
Other conditions that can cause memory loss or dementia include:
Medication side effects
Chronic alcoholism
Brain tumors or infections
Blood clots in the brain
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Some thyroid, kidney, or liver diseases
Stroke
Parkinson's disease
Sleep disorders
Some of these conditions may be treatable and potentially reversible. They can be serious and should be treated by a doctor as soon as possible.
Emotional problems, such as stress, anxiety, or depression, can make a person more likely to forget things and can be mistaken for dementia. For example, someone who has recently retired or is dealing with the death of a spouse may feel sad, lonely, worried, or bored. Trying to cope with these life changes can make some people confused or forgetful. Emotional problems can be alleviated by supportive friends and family, but if these feelings persist for a long time, it is important to seek help from a doctor or counselor.
9-Me-BC, it is a nootropic drug, its structure is similar to β-carbolines found in plants, such as harmine and harmane.
9-ME-BC powder is a methylated derivative of β-carboline, which has a wide range of activities and helps treat Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders. Some studies have shown that it can stimulate dopaminergic neurons by enhancing tyrosine hydroxylase and transcription factors, with the ultimate goal of increasing dopamine levels. Some animal studies have also found that 9-methyl-β-carboline restores the activity of dopaminergic neurons by regulating the expression of various neurotrophic factors and reducing apoptotic signaling.