Seattle Neurology
  • Home
  • Blog
  • EBook
    • Migraine
    • Polyneuropathy
    • Low Back Pain
  • Resources
    • Conditions >
      • Aphasia
      • Brain Trauma
      • Brain Tumor
      • Dementia >
        • Alzheimer's Disease
        • Frontotemporal Dementia
        • Vascular Dementia
      • Diabetes
      • Dystonia
      • Epilepsy
      • Headaches
      • Hearing Loss
      • Low Back Pain
      • Multiple Sclerosis
      • Parkinson's Disease
      • Polyneuropathy
      • Postural Tremor
      • Sleep Disorder
      • Stroke
      • Vision Impairment
    • Geriatric Issues >
      • Agencies
      • Caregiving
      • End of Life
      • Independent Living Facility
      • Medical Supplies
      • Social Services
    • Other >
      • Disability
      • General Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Rehabilitation

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

8/7/2013

0 Comments

 
What is Happening in the Brain of a Person with Alzheimer’s Disease?

Theory

A) General Injury

- All brains undergo neuroplasticity in response to damage.  Neurons are one of the few cells in the body that do not replicate.  When they are exposed to damaging ions (e.g. free radicals) following smoking a cigarette they repair themselves (use an intracellular repair protein called ‘tau’) and can branch to contact neighboring neurons. However, at some point in life this neuroplasticity will be overcome and these neurons that have branched together coalesce into a ‘neurofibrillary tangle’.

B) Alzheimer Brain

- Alzheimer disease is given to those individuals who have an inability to tolerate the neuronal damage of the cholinergic neurons within the brain.  This thought to be due to faulty repair mechanisms (e.g. familial defects, no HRT in post-menopausal women, Down’s Syndrome, etc). 

1.  There is a high density of cholinergic neurons in the low limbic region of the brain.  This is the location of the initial neuronal loss for Alzheimer’s disease.  This is the beginning of loss of smell and personality change.        

     a) entororhinal cortex

     b) amygdala

2.  With time, the damage progresses to the high limbic region.  This marks the beginning of amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment. 

     a) association cortex of occipital-parietal lobe

     b) hippocampus

3.  Finally, it will spread to the high neocortex.   This is the beginning of Severe Dementia.

     a) frontal, parietal, anterior temporal neocortex

- At any point in time, if a person were to die from natural causes and undergo an autopsy, there would be a high concentration of neurofibrillary tangles found in the respective regions of the brain the correlate with the stage of their Alzheimer’s Disease.  Likewise, certain neuroimaging studies can also be used to confirm the diagnosis; specifically the SPECT study. 

C) Amyloid Neuritic Plaques

- Finally, in areas of the neuronal injury (of any sort) peptide structures called amyloid plaques can develop.  An amyloid plaque is made from protein and is found outside of any neurons.  In the normal population, these are found in increasing amounts as we age.  What has been observed is that in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, these amyloid plaques surround the neuronal axons that are filled with the tau repair proteins.  There is a new neuroimaging test recently available called an Amyvid study which allows physicians to scan for higher than normal amount of amyloid plaques within the brain.  If present, in the right clinical scenario, it could support the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.   

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Body Systems
    Book Review
    Case Study
    Dementia
    Diagnosis
    Elderly
    General Health
    Healthcare
    Helpful Tips
    Mental Health
    Migraines
    Parkinson's

    Archives

    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.