Alzheimers disease Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alzheimers disease - Term Paper Example 1). In fact, Alzheimer’s disease happens to be the most common form of dementia in this nation. Dementia in fact happens to be a large set covering a range of illnesses that involve deterioration of the nerve cells or a loss of their ability to work normally. Alzheimer’s disease is a serious condition that renders the patient incapable of performing the most basic of bodily activities like swallowing and walking. The irony is that Alzheimer’s disease in the long run eventually ends up being fatal. Though it is a still quiet difficult to explain as to how the Alzheimer’s disease process begins, it would be safe to say that the damage to the nerve cells in this disease begins a decade or more before the actual symptoms begin to appear (Newport & Hirsch, 2011). In the preclinical stage the patients in the Alzheimer’s disease tend to appear normal, however, the toxic alterations and changes in the brain do tend to start much earlier. The disease is characterized by abnormal deposits of proteins leading to the formation of tau tangles and amyloid plaques allover in the brain (Newport & Hirsch, 2011). Thereby the neurons which happened to be early healthier, begin to function in an abnormal manner. In the long run the neurons begin to lose the ability to work and communicate with each other, eventually leading to their death. Gradually the disease spreads to the hippocampus part of the brain, which is the repository of memories (Newport & Hirsch, 2011). With the gradu al demise of neurons, the parts of brain proceed to shrink. In the long run the damage grows over to be widespread leading to a significant shrinking of the brain tissue (Newport & Hirsch, 2011). Alzheimer’s disease actually happens to be a progressive brain disease marked by symptoms like memory changes that disrupt normal life, confusions pertaining to time and place, difficulty in accomplishing even the most basic of