Driving Question:
What is the chemistry behind Alzheimer’s disease and can it be reversed?
Alzheimer’s Disease Bibliography
The first source I found provides a brief outline of Alzheimer’s symptoms and why they occur. The source stated that symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease include memory loss and behavioral symptoms of Dementia. This source states that the culprits for these symptoms is an imbalance of glutamate, acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin. Molecular changes in Alzheimer’s are not clear but it is suspected that transporters may be at fault. This hypothesis was tested by testing 10 Alzheimer and 10 healthy postmortem prefrontal cortices by examining protein and mRNA levels of the transports. The results found that the levels were significantly lower in Alzheimer inflicted brains compared to healthy brains.
The second source I found gave a brief history and background on Alzheimer’s Disease and it helped me to better understand the specifics of the disease. Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease and there is currently no cure. Plaques and tangles of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain are the cause of the disease. Although this plaques are what usually bring on the symptoms, there is not always a direct correlation. Plaques and tangles can appear in the brain long before any symptoms start arising. Alzheimer’s is sometimes seen as a genetic disease but those with no prior familia history are still susceptible to the disease.
The third source I used helped me create a link between Alzheimer’s Disease and chemical equilibrium. For a brain to be in complete chemical equilibrium, transportation for nutrients is fashioned in a parallel strands and a protein called tau keeps those tracks straight. In a diseased brain, tau collapses within itself and forms tangles which disrupt the transportation system. The tracks end up dying which leaves the nutrients with no transportation system which in turn causes cells to die. This triggers the symptoms typically seen in Alzheimer’s.
The fourth source I utilized helped me better understand the protein beta-amyloid and the role it plays in the disease. Oxidative stress is becoming a more prominent reason for Alzheimer’s which can be seen with the increased amounts of lipid peroxidation and DNA and protein oxidation products. In an Alzheimer’s brain there is increased levels of beta-amyloid which in a healthy brain regularly serves in neural growth and repair. The abundance of the protein in an Alzheimer’s brain causes it to stick together and form plaques.
The fifth source gave my some quick facts and figures. From this source I learned that Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death and more than 5 million Americans are living with the disease in the United States. Alzheimer’s is the only cause of death among the top 10 illnesses in America that cannot be cured, prevented, or slowed. Unfortunately one in three seniors die of Alzheimer’s and every 66 seconds someone develops the deadly disease.
The sixth source I used compared a healthy brain to an Alzheimer’s inflicted brain. In an Alzheimer’s brain, tissues drastically shrink and the grooves in the brain are significantly widened. The gyri, the folds on the brain’s outer layer, shrink. The ventricle inside the brain are also enlarged. In a healthy brain, these abnormalities obviously don’t occur, hence the non development of the disease. All the above mentioned abnormalities mentioned help contribute to the symptoms commonly seen in the disease.
What is the chemistry behind Alzheimer’s disease and can it be reversed?
Alzheimer’s Disease Bibliography
The first source I found provides a brief outline of Alzheimer’s symptoms and why they occur. The source stated that symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease include memory loss and behavioral symptoms of Dementia. This source states that the culprits for these symptoms is an imbalance of glutamate, acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin. Molecular changes in Alzheimer’s are not clear but it is suspected that transporters may be at fault. This hypothesis was tested by testing 10 Alzheimer and 10 healthy postmortem prefrontal cortices by examining protein and mRNA levels of the transports. The results found that the levels were significantly lower in Alzheimer inflicted brains compared to healthy brains.
The second source I found gave a brief history and background on Alzheimer’s Disease and it helped me to better understand the specifics of the disease. Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease and there is currently no cure. Plaques and tangles of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain are the cause of the disease. Although this plaques are what usually bring on the symptoms, there is not always a direct correlation. Plaques and tangles can appear in the brain long before any symptoms start arising. Alzheimer’s is sometimes seen as a genetic disease but those with no prior familia history are still susceptible to the disease.
The third source I used helped me create a link between Alzheimer’s Disease and chemical equilibrium. For a brain to be in complete chemical equilibrium, transportation for nutrients is fashioned in a parallel strands and a protein called tau keeps those tracks straight. In a diseased brain, tau collapses within itself and forms tangles which disrupt the transportation system. The tracks end up dying which leaves the nutrients with no transportation system which in turn causes cells to die. This triggers the symptoms typically seen in Alzheimer’s.
The fourth source I utilized helped me better understand the protein beta-amyloid and the role it plays in the disease. Oxidative stress is becoming a more prominent reason for Alzheimer’s which can be seen with the increased amounts of lipid peroxidation and DNA and protein oxidation products. In an Alzheimer’s brain there is increased levels of beta-amyloid which in a healthy brain regularly serves in neural growth and repair. The abundance of the protein in an Alzheimer’s brain causes it to stick together and form plaques.
The fifth source gave my some quick facts and figures. From this source I learned that Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death and more than 5 million Americans are living with the disease in the United States. Alzheimer’s is the only cause of death among the top 10 illnesses in America that cannot be cured, prevented, or slowed. Unfortunately one in three seniors die of Alzheimer’s and every 66 seconds someone develops the deadly disease.
The sixth source I used compared a healthy brain to an Alzheimer’s inflicted brain. In an Alzheimer’s brain, tissues drastically shrink and the grooves in the brain are significantly widened. The gyri, the folds on the brain’s outer layer, shrink. The ventricle inside the brain are also enlarged. In a healthy brain, these abnormalities obviously don’t occur, hence the non development of the disease. All the above mentioned abnormalities mentioned help contribute to the symptoms commonly seen in the disease.