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Conditions InDepth: Alzheimer Disease
Alzheimer disease is a brain disorder. People lose the ability to think, reason, and
remember. Symptoms can change from day to day. Over time the disease gets worse.
Alzheimer dementia is when a person can no longer care
for him or herself.
Areas of the Brain Affected by Alzheimer Disease |
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Causes
Brain cells stop working and begin to die. Why this happens is not clear. It could be
a mix of:
Genes
Environment
Overall health
People with Alzheimer disease have more things called tangles and plaques in their
brains. These may block how the cells talk to each other. They are:
- Neurofibrillary tangles—pieces of a protein called tau fibers are twisted in the cells
- Neuritic plaques—a protein called beta amyloid builds up between nerve cells
These changes often start where the brain stores memory. This
damage may begin many years before a person has symptoms.
References
Alzheimer dementia. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:
https://www.dynamed.com/condition/alzheimer-dementia. Accessed April 6, 2022.
Alzheimer's disease medications fact sheet. National
Institute on Aging website. Available at:
https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/alzheimers-disease-medications-fact-sheet.
Accessed April 6, 2022.
Atri, A. The Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Spectrum:
Diagnosis and Management. Med Clin North Am. 2019; 103(2): 263-293.
What is Alzheimer's? Alzheimer’s Association website.
Available at: http://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers. Accessed April 6,
2022.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: EBSCO Medical Review Board Rimas Lukas, MD
- Review Date: 03/2022
- Update Date: 04/06/2022