What is the Cause of Alzheimer's Disease?

Because Alzheimers Disease is such a progressive and devastating one, I want to do a series of articles on all aspects of this complex disease. Today, I'll start with what we know about the cause of Alzheimers Disease. I'll plan future articles on the symptoms, treatment, stages, and possible preventive strategies for this common, degenerative brain disease.

What is the cause of Alzheimers Disease thought to be?

We don't know the exact cause of Alzheimers disease , but there are a number of possible explanations. Certain biochemical factors have been shown to be deficient in the patient with Alheimers disease. Some of these factors include acetylcholine, norepinephrine, somatostatin, and substance P. These biochemicals are known as neurotransmitters meaning they carry signals from brain cell to brain cell.

If you look at the brain tissue of an Alzheimers patient upon autopsy, you see several rather curious features. Alzheimers sufferers tend to have alot of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques when the tissue is viewed under the microscope. Their brains appear more atrophied and shrunken than a normal brain and actually weigh less when weighed on a scale.

The amyloid plaques we see in the brain tissue of patients with Alzheimers are though to be composed of a protein called amyloid precursor protein or APP. Scientists have found a genetic link to the production of these APP plaques. It seems people who form these plaques have faulty versions of a certain gene called SORL1 which leads to reduced levels of this protein being produced. Reduced levels of SORL1 appear to play some role in the development of the plaques so commonly seen in the brain tissue of people with Alzheimers disease. These amyloid plaques have been shown to result in brain dysfunction even in elderly individuals who appear normal. Fortunately, there are currently trials being conducted on possible anti-amyloid drugs that can relieve the symptoms of Alzheimers Disease.

What are some risk factors associated with develop of Alzheimers Disease?

There are a variety of risk factors for Alzheimer's Disease including:

1. Age