Thursday, November 15, 2012

A little bit about Alzheimer’s and a preview of our article presentation


Alzheimer’s is a disease that can be observed by symptoms of memory loss and decrease cognitive brain function. There are no current treatments and the mechanisms of the disease development and progression are not fully understood. It is thought that that the cause of neuronal damage in people with Alzheimer’s disease is due chronic inflammatory processes.  Recent studies have highlighted a few players of inflammation such as Amyloid-beta (Aβ) and glial cells that are thought to have a significant role in Alzheimer’s related neuronal damage.   The protein identified as Amyloid-beta (Aβ) has been shown to form plaque with in the brain of Alzheimer patients resulting in neuronal damage. Additionally studies have identified that unregulated microglia activation is thought to be a mediator of neuronal degeneration. These are just a few of the hypothesized culprits of the neuronal damage observed in Alzheimer’s disease.  With each additional study the facets of Alzheimer’s disease are slowly being unraveled with hopes for identifying a treatable mechanism.

1 comment:

  1. When a loved one has Alzheimer's, many symptoms will be at play that will take a toll on the patient and the patient's entire family. If you have a loved one with Alzheimer's, then family therapy is a good idea for the following reasons.

    Alzheimer Clinic

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