Alzheimer Disease (AD) : Introduction, Pathogenesis, Clinical Symptoms & Treatment
Definition
- Alzheimer disease (AD)-a neurodegenerative disease- is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly population.
- Age is an important risk factor for AD.
- Most cases of AD are sporadic, but at least 5% to 10% are familial. Sporadic cases rarely present before 50 years of age, but early onset is seen with some heritable forms.
Symptoms
- The disease usually manifests with the insidious onset of impaired higher intellectual function and altered mood and behavior. Later, this progresses to disorientation, memory loss, and aphasia, findings indicative of severe cortical dysfunction, and over another 5 to 10 years, the patient becomes profoundly disabled, mute, and immobile.
- Death usually occurs from intercurrent pneumonia or other infections.
Pathogenesis
The exact cause is not known but a few factors are implicated in its etiology which are following:
- Positive family history
- Deposition of Aβ or β amyloid in the brain
Treatment
Alzheimer disease (AD) is treated by following drugs :
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