Learn About The Risk Factors And Causes Of Alzheimers Disease

Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia and affects close to half a million people in UK

. The characteristics and symptoms of this disease can be classified as early and late. Early symptoms include difficulty remembering names and recent events and apathy and depression. Late symptoms include impaired judgement, disorientation, confusion, behaviour changes and difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking. In 2011, new criteria and guidelines were proposed and published, recommending that Alzheimers disease be considered a disease that begins well before the development of symptoms.

The causes of Alzheimers remain unknown; however experts agree that this disease develops as a result of multiple factors rather than a single cause and develops due to a complex series of events that take place in the brain over a long period of time. Likely causes include a mix of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. While exact causes of Alzheimers are blurry, scientists have identified risk factors of the disease age, family history and genetics.

Age and Alzheimers The number one risk factor for Alzheimers disease is an increase in age. After age 65, the risk of Alzheimers doubles every five years and by the time a person reaches 85, the risk of Alzheimers is nearly 50 percent. As the brain ages, its immune system weakens and damaged nerve cells begin to die, leading to decreased function of the brain. Changes in the brain can occur as many as 20 years before symptoms appear. In the beginning, the individual is able to function normally despite changes in the brain. However, further along, the brain cannot compensate for increased neuronal damage, and the individual then starts showing subtle decline in cognitive function. In latter stages, the neuronal damage is so severe that the individual shows obvious cognitive decline such as memory changes or confusion.

Family history and Alzheimers Individuals who have a parent or sibling with Alzheimers are more likely to develop the disease than those who do not have a close relative with Alzheimers. Those with more than one close relative are at an even greater risk of developing the disease. This happens because of heredity (genetics) or because of a shared environmental or lifestyle factors or both.

Genetics (heredity) and Alzheimers There are two categories of genes that influence whether a person develops a disease risk genes and deterministic genes. Alzheimers genes have been identified in both categories. Apoliprotein E-e4 (APOE-e4) is a risk gene, and is one of the three types of APOE genes that code for a protein involved in cholesterol transportation within the bloodstream. Everyone inherits one form of the APOE gene from each parent those that inherit the APOE-e4 gene are at a greater risk for Alzheimers.

by: Ewan Allman

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