1. Title: Alzheimer’s disease and the social
consequences of an aging population
10 June 2018
Learning question: what is dementia and how does it affect the elderly?
Homework: You have your class test next week – study!

2. Learning Objectives Candidates should be able to:
(b) describe the symptoms and possible causes of Alzheimer’s disease;
(c) consider the issues involved in the care of patients with dementia (HSW6b, 7c);

3. Key words Alzheimer’s disease Multifactorial Beta-amyloid protein
Tau proten

4. Symptoms and possible causes of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease of the NS – can effect any part of the brain e.g. temporal and frontal lobes of the brain
Initially, destroys brain cells, but no obvious symptoms. Over time, may grow more serious and include memory lapses.
Progression is always towards worsening of symptoms and increasing dependence on caregivers.
End result is death due to inability of brain to maintain body/disease/injury
Rate of progression variable

5. Symptoms and possible causes of Alzheimer's disease
Causes of Alzheimer's disease probably multifactorial
Age is the most important risk factor.
Number of people with disease doubles every 5 years after 65
Family history a risk factor
Research has shown that factors that increase risk of heart disease also increase risk of Alzheimer’s
Smoking, drinking, high BP and cholesterol
Severe head or whiplash injuries appear to increase risk also
Boxing is a concern

6. Symptoms and possible causes of Alzheimer's disease
Down’s syndrome
15% of Alzheimer's patients also have family history of this condition
Beta-amyloid protein
Gene responsible for the production of this protein found in Alzheimer's sufferers and adults with Down’s syndrome
Protein produces a tangled mass of fibres in the brain
Genes
Hereditary risk
Genes only found in few hundred families.
Known as familial Alzheimer’s disease

8. Symptoms and possible causes of Alzheimer's disease
Environmental factors
Ingesting aluminium salts – circumstantial evidence linking this with Alzheimer’s disease
Mental activity
Studies suggest remaining mentally active throughout life, especially in old age, reduces risk of Alzheimer’s disease
Evidence currently inconclusive

9. Pathology
Alzheimer’s patients brains contain neurofibrillary tangles and plaques.
These neurofibrillary tangles are composed of Tau protein

10. Pathology
Tangles are accumulations of twisted protein fragments that clog up the inside of neurones
Plaques encroach from the outside – they have a core of beta-amyloid which is infiltrated by clusters of degenerating axons and dendrites.
The axons and dendrites are slowly engulfed

11. Pathology
Research suggests that Alzheimer's disease is caused by inflammatory process associated with aging, and not by amyloid plaque deposits.
Claims that disease is caused by the formation of toxic proteins within brain nerve cells
These proteins are derivatives of beta amyloid (beta-amyloid derived diffusible ligands , ADDLs)
Beta-amyloids fibrils kill a wide range of neurones, whereas ADDLs affect only those implicated in Alzheimer’s disease

12. Pathology ADDLs are suggested to be organophosphorus molecules
This type of molecule is known to attach to special Tau proteins involved in assembling microtubules found in axons, causing them to tangle.

13. Social responsibility?

14. Genetics