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Progress Report on Alzheimer's Disease: Understanding and Addressing the Growing Impact

This report delves into Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), an age-related, irreversible brain disorder that leads to significant memory loss and changes in behavior and personality. Affecting millions, particularly those over 65, the prevalence is rising, necessitating urgent research into causes, risk factors, and effective treatments. The report also highlights the economic burden of AD on society and the increasing risk among diverse racial and ethnic groups. Key features like amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are discussed, along with current treatment options, emphasizing the need for better diagnostic techniques and caregiver support.

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Progress Report on Alzheimer's Disease: Understanding and Addressing the Growing Impact

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  1. Progress Report on Alzheimer’s Disease Taking the Next Steps NIA NIH

  2. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) • Age-related • Irreversible brain disorder • Occurs gradually • Results: memory loss • behavior/personality changes • decline in thinking abilities

  3. Course of disease varies from person to person • Rate of decline varies • Ave. after Dx: 8-10 years • Advances from mild forgetfulness to severe loss of mental fx

  4. Symptoms appear after 60 • EARLY LATE • loss of recent memory faulty judgement & personality changes • easily confused forget simple tasks

  5. FINALLY: • become completely dependent on others for everyday care • become debilitated, likely to develop other illnesses/infections • Usually die of pneumonia

  6. “Although the risk of developing AD increases wih age, AD and dementia symptoms are not a part of normal aging”. (p.2)

  7. IMPACT OF AD • Most common cause of dementia among those 65& older • Up to 4 million currently have AD • Prevalence doubles every 5 years beyond age 65 • Numbers are bound to increase as the population ages

  8. A Question: Are there differences in AD risk, incidence & prevalence among various racial/ethnic groups? • Why? #s of over-65 non-Caucasians is growing rapidly--increase from 16 to 34% by 2050 • African Americans & Hispanic Americans may have higher overall risk of AD

  9. Impact of AD • Heavy economic burden on society--annual cost of care: • mild AD:$18,408 • moderate AD: $30,96 • severe AD: $36,132 • Tremendous caregiver burden

  10. Impact of delaying AD onset: an enormous public health impact • Fed AD research areas: • causes/risk factors • diagnosis • treatment/caregiving

  11. General AD Progress • Destruction of cells in hippocampus--failure of short term memory and easy tasks become more difficult • Attack on cells in cerebral cortex--loss of language skills & judgement-making abilities

  12. As more & more of the brain becomes involved (atrophies): • Personality changes • Emotional outbursts • Wandering • Agitation • Finally--bedridden, incontinent, helpless & unresponsive to outside world

  13. Main AD Features: Plaques & Tangles • Amyloid Plaques • Insoluble deposits of beta-amyloid • portions of neurons • non-nerve cells such as microglia • Are they a cause, or an effect of AD?

  14. Neurofibrillary tangles • Primary component: tau proteins, which normally stabilize a cell’s internal support structure by binding and stabilizing microtubules

  15. Types of AD • Familial AD (FAD)--early onset--only 5-10% of cases • Sporadic AD--late onset

  16. Brain changes with normal aging • Some neurons in some regions die--most important to learning don’t • Some neurons shrink & function less well • Tangles & plaques develop in some regions • Inflammation increases • Oxidative stress increases

  17. Free radicals--product of normal metabolism • --may be helpful to cells in fighting infection • --highly reactive • Production of too many is oxidative stress

  18. Exploration of rel. of AD with other “diseases of aging” • Possible link between brain infarcts & AD • Blood cholesterol and rate of plaque deposition. • Parallels between AD & other progressive neurodegenerative disorders--all involve deposits of abnormal proteins in the brain

  19. Can AD be treated? • FDA has approved 3 meds • 1993: Cognex • 1996: Aricept • 2000: Exelon • Slows symptom advance, but will not stop or reverse AD • Act by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase (enzyme that breaks down a key neurontransmitter)

  20. AD Research areas/goals • Understanding etiology of AD • Improving early Dx • Developing drug Tx’s • Improving support for caregivers

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