The Struggle With Alzheimer's Disease

In the heart of every Tar Heel, there lies a deep respect for Coach Dean Smith. After thirty-six seasons and 879 career wins, the game he once loved has become a blur. Smith was the men’s basketball coach at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1961 to 1997. He led the Tar Heels to 11 Final Fours and 23 straight NCAA tournament appearances. But these accomplishments are becoming increasingly difficult for Coach Smith to remember due to his struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. A remarkably intelligent man has become a shell of the man he once was. The Alzheimer’s Association has predicted
“Moment” that if a cure is not found, 7.7 million people will have the disease by 2030 and as high as 16 million by 2050. Alzheimer's disease

Alois Alzheimer, presented a case history of a woman who suffered from a rare brain disorder. The autopsy of her brain identified plaques and tangles. These plaques and tangles work together to break down the brain’s structure. Today, the disease can be characterized by these plaques and tangles. Plaques arise when another protein in the fatty membrane surrounding nerve cells gets sliced up by a particular enzyme. This results in the formation of Beta-Amyloid Proteins, which are sticky and have a tendency to clump together. This clumping is what creates what we know as plaques. These clumps block signaling and communication between cells and also triggers immune reactions that cause the destruction of disabled nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s Disease, neurofibrillary tangles are built from a protein known as tau. The brains nerve cells contain a network of tube-like structures that act as a highway for food molecules among other things. Usually, the tau protein ensures that these tubes are straight, allowing molecules to pass through freely. However in Alzheimer’s Disease, the protein collapses into twisted strands or tangles making the tubes disintegrate, obstructing nutrients from reaching the nerve cell and leading to cell death. The destructive pairing of plaques and tangles starts in a region of the brain called the hippocampus. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and degenerative disorder that attacks the brain's neurons resulting in loss of things such as memory, thinking and language skills, and behavioral changes. Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability. Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia. Dementia is not a specific disease. It is a broad term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer's disease accounts for