Alzheimer’s Top Risk Factors (1)

Alzheimer’s is an awfully startling neurodegenerative disease that slowly robs a person of their memories, their rationality and their ability to carry out even the simplest of tasks. Just as frightening is the knowledge that, not only can we not cure it or slow its effects, but we do not yet recognize all the factors that bring this disease about. While it’s commonly consideration to be a disease of the elderly, modern studies have shown that it can also occur in younger people, and there may be several factors, when added together, create a grown opportunity for Alzheimer’s disease to take hold.

Up to now, there is no single known cause for Alzheimer’s disease. Some studies suggest there may be genetic factors, while others believe it has to do with maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Still others will argue that allowing one’s brain to ‘stagnate’ and not keeping it working; basically put, that the brain grows out of practice from lack of use, may cause it. Several scientists even claim recent studies point out the damage is done to the brain, by Alzheimer’s disease, may occur years before the patient even begins to demonstrate symptoms.

There is no actual way of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, short of an autopsy that is performed after the person passes away; only then, can the presence of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques be detected. Plaques are the clumps of protein form outside the brain’s nerve cells, while the tangles are produced of twisted strands of other proteins which form inside the cells. These two abnormalities work both to disorder the normal processes in the brain, preventing the transfer of chemicals which pass messages from nerve cell to nerve cell. While tangles and plaques are always present on the post-mortem brains of Alzheimer’s patients, scientists do not know if it’s the tangles and plaques which cause Alzheimer’s, or if it is the disease which causes the tangles and plaques.