Alzheimer - Causes Treatments

Causes of Alzheimer's disease

Like all types of dementia, Alzheimer's is caused by brain cell death.3 It is a neurodegenerative disease, which means there is progressive brain cell death that happens over a course of time.

The total brain size shrinks with Alzheimer's - the tissue has progressively fewer nerve cells and connections.
brain neurons

While they cannot be seen or tested in the living brain affected by Alzheimer's disease, postmortem/autopsy will always show tiny inclusions in the nerve tissue, called plaques and tangles:

Plaques are found between the dying cells in the brain - from the build-up of a protein called beta-amyloid (you may hear the term "amyloid plaques").
The tangles are within the brain neurons - from a disintegration of another protein, called tau.

Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease -

The information in this section connects closely to some of that about tests and diagnosis below because symptoms noticed by patients, or people close to them, are exactly the same signs that healthcare professionals look for during testing.

Symptoms can be diagnosed at any stage of Alzheimer's dementia and the progression through the stages of the disease is monitored after an initial diagnosis, too, when the developing symptoms dictate how care is managed.

reatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease
care for people with Alzheimer's
America's national plan sets out to improve the quality of care and support for people with Alzheimer's disease and their families.

There is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease - the death of brain cells in the dementia cannot be halted or reversed.

There is, however, much backing for therapeutic interventions to help people live with Alzheimer's disease more ably.

The Alzheimer's Association includes the following as important elements of dementia care:

- Effective management of any conditions occurring alongside the Alzheimer's
- Activities and/or programs of adult day care
- Support groups and services.