Alzheimer's Disease Case Study

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What if there was a way to slow down or even possibly stop the damage caused by Alzheimer’s? Washington University School of Medicine has been working on a solution to that exact notion and it turns out that they have made developments. Consequently, a protein in the brain known as tau may accumulate into deadly jumbles that damage brain cells and this can be directly attributed to diseases such as Alzheimer's. According to the researchers, they believe to have found a medicine that can lessen tau levels and even counteract portions of the neurological damage. Nevertheless, there was a study published in Science Translational Medicine, consisting mice as well as monkeys, where the researchers discovered a molecule known as an antisense oligonucleotide, which could possibly treat irregular tau levels and ultimately …show more content…

After this time period passed, they noticed that tau levels as well as tau tangles were considerably reduced in those treated with the molecule compared to those who were not. Furthermore, researchers noticed that the molecule even reversed the damage that could have initially been caused. In addition, the treated mice lived an average of 36 days longer than the mice who did not get treatment. Also, they behaved better socially and performed well cognitively, along with increased motor capabilities, which all can be compromised by diseases like Alzheimer’s. This is important as researchers have made strides and even began performing trials on humans for the likes of Huntington’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease. If they are able to progress and further develop medicine through these trials, life threatening diseases may be able to be treated, halted, and even reversed. Therefore, humans may one day be able to continue living with no complications or anomalies. These studies will affect all human beings in one form or another as disease and harm is all around us, whether it be you or someone you know or even someone you do not know that can be

Microglial and Neurological Disorder
2044 Words | 5 Pages
Zilka, N., Stozicka, Z., Kovac, A., Pilipcinec, E., Bugos, O., and Novak, M. (2009). Human misfolded truncated tau protein promotes activation of microglia and leukocyte infiltration in the transgenic rat model of tauopathy. Journal of neuroimmunology 209, 16-25.
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This is a disease is found in the brain and is caused by a buildup of a protein called tau. Tau slowly kills brain cells. Even after brain trauma has ended this process still continues. There are many symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, impaired judgement, depression, and even aggression.
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Concussions By Peter Landesm Film Analysis
1012 Words | 3 Pages
Webster had displayed patterns of distressing behavior before his death from a heart attack at age 50, and Omalu was curious as to what the former player 's brain would reveal. Omalu sent the brain to be cut into paper thin slices to be examined later under a microscope. Under further investigation Omalu found clumps of tau proteins (Tau proteins are proteins that perform the function of stabilizing microtubules. These proteins are abundant in nerve cells and are present to a much lesser degree in oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. When Tau proteins become defective and fail to adequately stabilize microtubules, pathologies of the nervous system can develop such as Alzheimer’s disease.)
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Stem Cell Therapy
1269 Words | 3 Pages
Imagine that there is a cure for nearly every ailment that affects the human race. Imagine that you could help the terminally ill, put those you love out of pain, and cut the healing time of an enormous number of serious illnesses in half. Imagine a world in which pain and suffering would be nearly nonexistent, and the people you love can live safe from the fear of crippling injury. Now what if I told you that this utopia was a fast approaching reality? Everything from serious life threatening burns to lymphoma, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, Muscular Dystrophy, Parkinson’s Disease, Spinal Cord Injury, and Strokes could, in the very near future, be eliminated through the simple culturing and implementation of stem cell therapy . These diseases are no small component of the myriad of conditions that plagues the human race, and yet, the end for these horrible maladies could very well be in sight. Man has always sought to end suffering, largely without success, until now. the promise that stem cell therapy holds could completely change our world for the better. Already, stem cell therapy is being used to treat leukemia, immune disorders, hodgkins and non-hodgkins lymphoma, anemia and a profusion of other ailments. As you all know, this is no small accomplishment. One day i believe that we may look at alzheimer's and diabetes and other major illnesses much like we look at polio today, as a treatable illness. Right now, our research with stem cells is providing us with new light into how we look at and model disease, our ability to understand why we get sick and even to develop new drugs. In 2008, a researcher from the New York Stem Cell Foundation Laborato...
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The Role of Genetics In Alzheimer’s Disease
3344 Words | 7 Pages
Clinically, Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaque between living neurons in the brain (Sabbagh, 2008). This results in an excessive calcium influx inside the neurons and the breakdown of a protein called tau. Normally, the rol...
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Dementia Case Study
1021 Words | 3 Pages
People with dementia may be subject to mistreatment and abuse in the community or in care homes and hospitals. Those with dementia can be more vulnerable to abuse as they may find it difficult to discuss their feelings and experiences or remember what happened to them. Dementia can also make it harder to detect abuse.
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Alzheimers Disease
1096 Words | 3 Pages
Alzheimer’s disease is a complex illness that affects the brain tissue directly and undergoes gradual memory and behavioral changes which makes it difficult to diagnose. It is known to be the most common form of dementia and is irreversible. Over four million older Americans have Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to triple in the next twenty years as more people live into their eighties and nineties. (Johnson, 1989). There is still no cure for Alzheimer’s but throughout the past few years a lot of progress has been made.
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Alzheimer's Disease
2171 Words | 5 Pages
Alzheimer’s disease or AD is an incurable disorder of the brain that results in loss of normal brain structure and function. In an AD brain, normal brain tissue is slowly replaced by structures called plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The plaques represent a naturally occurring sticky protein called beta amyloid and in an Alzheimer’s brain, sufferer’s tend to accumulate too much of this protein. Neurofibrillary tangles represent collapsed tau proteins which, in a normal brain along with microtubules, form a skeleton that maintains the shape of the nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s disease, the tau proteins break loose from their normal location and form tangles. Without the support of these molecules, nerve cells collapse and die. As normal brain structure is lost with progression of the disease, brain function also degenerates. Patients afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease display a gradual mental decline. Initially, and most apparently, there is a loss of short-term memory. Eventually, as a patient progresses to later stages of the disease, the brain becomes so damaged that patients can no longer communicate or recognize immediate family or even themselves. They have difficulty walking and standing and frequently fall. In the final stages, they lose bladder and bowel control and have difficulty with swallowing, frequently leaving them malnourished and dehydrated. Eventually, they are forced to remain bedridden and, without the help of life-prolonging measures provided in a hospital, die. However, this level of deterioration is severe and may take as long as twenty years. Because of the disease’s slow progress and its usual later start in a person’s life, a victim of AD will usually die first of natural causes. Under the objectives ...
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Argumentative Essay On Contact Sports
1868 Words | 4 Pages
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE, is a neurodegenerative disease where an excess amount of tau, an abnormal protein, builds up inside of the brain. According to “A critical review of chronic traumatic encephalopathy”, the disease also creates “multiple blockages of the axonal transport to the brain cells, along with white spaces in the brain on a MRI scan.”, as
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Alzheimer's Disease Essay
1509 Words | 4 Pages
Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease, the diagnosis of which marks a long and painful journey through neurofibrillary degeneration. Unfortunately, there are so many factors that lead to and expedite the disease that synthesizing a cure is no simple task by any means. Whether the cause of the disease is hyperphosphorylation of tau or beta-amyloid plaques, current medical technology can only delay the symptoms. Hopefully the future of medical research will yield a method for reversing the progression of the neurological degeneration because far too many victims and their friends and family are forced to embark on the long and painful journey of Alzheimer’s.
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Alzheimer's
616 Words | 2 Pages
Scientists believe that for most people, Alzheimer's results from a combination of genetics, lifestyle and environmental factors that affect the brain over time. Alzheimer's is caused by specific genetic changes that virtually guarantee a person will develop the disease. The causal effect for this disease is still unknown with fingers pointing to plaques and tangles in the brain. Although the causes of Alzheimer's are not yet fully understood, its effect on the brain is clear. Alzheimer's disease damages and kills brain cells. A brain affected by Alzheimer's disease has many fewer cells and many fewer connections among surviving cells than does a healthy brain. As more and more brain cells die, Alzheimer's leads to enormous brain shrinkage. When doctors examined an Alzheimer's brain tissue under the microscope, they saw two types of abnormalities that are considered the cause of the disease. One of these abnormalities is plaques that clump up, a protein called beta-amyloid which damages and destroys brain cells. In patients with Alzheimer’s the plaques created interfere with cell to cell communication. The other abnormality seen is tangles in the brain. Brain cells depend on an internal support and transport system to carry nutrients and other essential materials throughout their long extensions. This system requires the normal structure and functioning of a protein called tau. In an Alzheimer's patient, the threads of tau protein twist into abnormal tangles inside the brain cells, leading to failure of the transport system. (Alzheimer's Association) (National Institutes of Health, 2012)
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Dance, Exercise and Their Impact on Dementia and Parkinson's
1660 Words | 4 Pages
The participation in leisure activities, such as dance, is related with a reduced risk of development of dementia, both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia (Verghese et al., 2003). Dementia is “a general term that describes a group of symptoms-such as loss of memory, judgment, language, complex motor skills, and other intellectual function-caused by the permanent damage or death of the brain's nerve cells, or neurons” (Alzheimer’s Foundation of America [AFA], 2015, para 1). Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in persons over the age of 65, representing about 60 percent of all dementias. Dementia is specifically characterized by “different pathologic, or structural, changes in the brain, such as an accumulation of
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Alzheimer's Disease Essay
1896 Words | 4 Pages
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, and this terminal, progressive brain disorder has no known cause or cure. Its greatest known risk factor is increasing age which is why is it is infamous for developing in the elderly, typically in ages 65 or over, however for the 5%(1) that develop Alzheimer’s in their 40s or 50s it is known as early Alzheimer’s. Because Alzheimer’s worsens over time, those with it tend to struggle with completing daily tasks especially elderly people. Given that there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, the treatments available slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve quality of life for those with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. It is not known what causes Alzheimer's, however, those with Alzheimer's have been found to have abnormal amounts of protein (amyloid plaques) and fibres.(The amyloid plaques and fibres are found in regions of the brain where problem solving and thinking take place e.g The cerebrum.) Due to the unusual amounts of amyloid plaques and fibres, it reduces the effectiveness of healthy neurons and eventually, destroying them.
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2169 Words | 5 Pages
“It is a simple fact that many, if not most, of today’s modern medical miracles would not exist if experimental animals had not been available to medical scientists. It is equally a fact that, should we as a society decide the use of animal subjects is ethically unacceptable and therefore must be stopped, medical progress will slow to a snail’s pace. Such retardation will in itself have a huge ethical ‘price tag’ in terms of continued human and animal suffering from problems such as diabetes, cancer, degenerative cardiovascular diseases, and so forth.”
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The Future of Medical Science Is Now
741 Words | 2 Pages
The procedures that will be the future of modern medicine currently fall into the realms of taboo and fictional. These procedures encompass every aspect of medical science, from exploration of the human body, curing diseases, to improving a person’s quality of life. Many of these procedures are not very well known, while a few have been in the spotlight. These procedures include cloning, nano-robotics, retro-viruses, and genetic manipulation via gene-specific medications. For any serious breakthroughs in modern medical science, we must embrace these new forms of treatment instead of shying away from them.      Second, I’ll attempt to explain how these methods and procedures could benefit mankind.
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Alzheimer's Disease Case Study

Microglial and Neurological Disorder

College Essay On Concussions

Concussions By Peter Landesm Film Analysis

Stem Cell Therapy

The Role of Genetics In Alzheimer’s Disease

Dementia Case Study