Do you remember what you ate for dinner two days ago?

Christine Lee G/T Independent Research Howard High school Dr.Celise Elliott and Dr.Samir Sauma, NIA

Objective Gain understanding of the Alzheimer’s disease Causes and Symptoms Statistics Explore the various preventive methods of Alzheimer’s and the ways they can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Explore how to incorporate the methods into your lifestyle

Alzheimer’s Statistics 6th leading cause of death in the U.S. the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s will triple by 2050 Dementia (including Alzheimer's) is the most expensive disease in the nation- caring expenses costs the nation billions annually 2/3 people diagnosed with the disease are women Every 67 seconds someone in US develops the disease

What is Alzheimer’s Disease? discovered by Dr.Alois Alzheimer in 1960 neurological disease that affects memory, behavior, and emotions due to the degeneration of the brain characterized by amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain tissue mental symptoms: unpredictable behavior and memory loss often mistaken for dementia which is a broader category of cognitive decline characterized by loss of memory and mental abilities due to physical deterioration of the brain cure for AD is yet to be discovered

Risk Factors of Alzheimer's Neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques- damage in the neurons that inhibit neural signals Common pathology in Alzheimer's patients Inheritance of apolipoprotein gene- gene commonly found in Alzheimer's patients Brain atrophy- decrease in the mass of the brain due to the degeneration of neurons Vascular diseases- vascular dementia is the result of the lack of blood flow to the brain Mild Cognitive Impairment- slight decline in cognitive abilities such as memory and thinking skills

PET Scan of Decline in Brain Activity

Preventive Methods Mediterranean diet Physical exercises Cognitive activities

Mediterranean diet fish, vegetable, fruits, whole grains, legume (beans) moderate amounts of alcohol, unsaturated fat Low consumption of saturated fats and meat Some omega-3 fatty acids in fish have the ability to reduce beta-amyloid plaques Mostly supported by studies- continuing research

Physical exercises Increase the amount of blood supply carried to the brain Carries oxygen and other nutrients Washes away metabolic wastes such as amyloid-beta protein Increase number of connections between nerve cells- stimulates various parts of the brain Able to maintain old network connections while making new ones

Cognitive activities solving puzzles, playing mentally challenging games, reading, planning, etc. Studies reveal relationships between greater performance of cognitive activities and lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease Can possibly increase the number of brain networks and brain plasticity

Your Turn! Lock ----Piano Ship ---- Card Tree ---- Car School ---- Eye Pillow ---- Court River ---- Money Bed ---- Paper Army ---- Water Tennis ---- Noise Key Deck Trunk Pupil Case Bank Sheet Tank Racket

Research Process Analyzed primary documents of studies on the various factors that contribute to the development of the Alzheimer’s Organized the information in a graphic organizer Compared the relationship of the preventive methods and the risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease Analyzed patterns revealed in the relationships

Recap Alzheimer’s is one of the nation’s most common and most expensive illnesses today There are various risk factors of Alzheimer’s that can indicate or predict the development of Alzheimer’s There are preventive methods that can be utilized in order to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by reducing the presence of risk factors of Alzheimer’s

Conclusion Educate others about Alzheimer’s Let other’s around you know about how they can take part in preventing the disease Adults can reduce the risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s by incorporating the Mediterranean diet, physical exercises, and cognitive exercises Early diagnosis is an important process of the treatment of the disease

Questions?

Work Cited content/uploads/sites/12/2014/04/Question-Mark-made-of-Food_Borders2.jpg content/uploads/sites/12/2014/04/Question-Mark-made-of-Food_Borders2.jpg learn-as-you-exercise/ learn-as-you-exercise/ disease/search-alzheimers-prevention-strategies disease/search-alzheimers-prevention-strategies