In this paragraph I will discuss what Alzheimer’s disease is and its symptoms. Alzheimer’s is the most common dementia or deterioration of intellectual faculties, in which parts of the brain stop working, causing disruptions in memory, judgement, reasoning, and emotional stability (George-Hyslop 2000). Although Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging process, the risk of developing the disease increases as people grow older (Seppa 2003). Alzheimer’s arises because the

In this paragraph I will discuss the possible treatments of Alzheimer’s disease. In the United States, the disease accounts for about $100 billion per year in medical and custodial expenses, with the average patient requiring an expenditure of $27,000 per year for medical and nursing care (Delagarza 2003). Although there is no 100% promising cure to Alzheimer’s disease, there are several medications that control the symptoms of A.D (Delagarza 2003). There are many research programs under progress to find better treatments to cure A.D (George-Hyslop 2000). Some investigators are presently designing compounds that will block the ability of either the beta- or gamma-secretase enzyme to cut ßAPP – thus preventing the creation of the damaging ß-amyloid peptide (George-Hyslop 2000). Also there are other investigators who are seeking to alleviate the peptide’s effects once it has been created (George-Hyslop 2000). Some antioxidants such as vitamin E and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen could alleviate some of the toxic effects of ß-amyloid (Travis 2000). Vitamin E mitigates the inflammatory effects of plaque formation in the brain; thus it prevents the nerve cells from the effects of ß-amyloid (Travis 2000). Observational studies have found that persons who regularly use NSAIDs have decreased incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (“NSAIDs protect against Alzheimer’s” 2003). Thus, NSAIDs likely have some neuroprotective effect (“NSAIDs protect against Alzheimer’s” 2003). Also, several descriptive studies have shown that postmenopausal women who take estrogen have a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (Delagarza 2003). In addition, recent studies demonstrate improved cerebral metabolism in women taking estrogen (Delagarza 2003). There are a lot of clinical trials underway to improve the drug treatment of Alzheimer’s (George-Hyslop 2000).

In this paragraph I will discuss two main causes of Alzheimer’s disease: amyloid protein (amyloid plaques) and tau protein. Amyloid protein clusters are found between the nerve cells while tau protein tangles are found inside the nerve cells (George-Hyslop 2000). The main component of an amyloid protein is a peptide made up of 40 or 42 amino acids (George-Hyslop 20

Some topics in this essay:
Eventually Alzheimer’s, DNA George-Hyslop, AD George-Hyslop, Alzheimer’s George-Hyslop, george-hyslop 2000, , alzheimer’s disease, nerve cells, AD Delagarza, causes alzheimer’s, travis 2000, cells george-hyslop 2000, tau protein, disease george-hyslop, delagarza 2003, alzheimer’s patients, cells george-hyslop, disease george-hyslop 2000, alzheimer’s disease george-hyslop, cause alzheimer’s disease, causes alzheimer’s disease,