Alzheimers Disease

Alzheimer's Disease
Name
Institution
Alzheimer's Disease
Pathophysiology Overview of Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) otherwise known as dementia is a condition that affects the brain making it hard for people to recall certain things. For a long time, clinicians have often stated that there exists a strong pathophysiology between that of normal aging and Alzheimer’s. There are pathologic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s found in aged people, but in certain cases these have also been found in perfectly healthy people. An example of this is in a study conducted in the United States where 76% of elderly patients that were perfectly healthy were found to have Alzheimer’s (International Psychogeriatric Association, 2013)
According to clinicians, Alzheimer’s affects the different processes that ensure that the neurons are functional. These processes are communication, metabolism, and repair. The progression of the disease starts when certain nerve cells in the brain become dysfunctional, lose touch with the rest of the nerve cells and finally die. The obliteration and demise of these cells bring about a loss of memory, personality transformations, as well as challenges in trying to complete the ordinary day-to-day tasks (Buhr, & White, 2012).
Research done by Buhr, & White (2012) has established that there is an accumulation of senile plaques (SPs) before the onset of Alzheimer’s. The disease is also accompanied by Neurofibrillary Tangles (NFTs) and the loss of neurons. Over the years, there has been widespread research that has been devoted towards explaining the configuration of SPs and NFTs to finds indications concerning the molecular pathogenesis and biochemistry of the disease. NFTs are mostly composed of the protein tau, which has a strong link to microtubules. In patients with Alzheimer’s, hyperphosphorylated tau gathers in the perikarya of the pyramidal neurons located in the brain. What has surprised most researchers is that the alteration of the tau gene does not lead to Alzheimer’s in certain families but instead leads to another type of dementia (US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2011).
From the time that Alois Alzheimer’s discovered the disease, SPs have been known to comprise a substance that contains starch placed in the middle of the lesions. The starch like substance is in turn surrounded by a thin layer of neuritis and reactive glia that disappear after some time. In recent days, scientist have been able to characterize the protein as well as clone the gene encoding the precursor brain, thus bringing a lot of wealth in trying to demystify the disease. Despite these advancements, there is still a lot that remains unknown about Alzheimer’s disease (Buhr, & White, 2012).
Methods and Techniques used in the Assessment of Alzheimer’s
An effective diagnosis of Alzheimer’s should incorporate an assessment of the patient’s daily functioning as well as their cognitive behavior. The Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) are the ones that are commonly used to assess the patient’s daily functioning. ...