Alzheimer’s
disease (AD)
Alzheimer’s
disease – most common from of dementia
In dementia there is
a progressive irreversible loss of intellectual function.
Prognosis – 10
years
Dementia is common affecting
10% of people aged over 65 years and 20% of those over 80.
AD is primary
Genetic component, a
history of head injury or Down’s also increases
risk.
Insidious -
progressive loss intellect and memory
Personality changes
Inability to learn
new things
Memories for recent
events are lost first
Language function
declines
Disorientation
General loss of
neurones
Microscopically there
are extracellular deposits of abnormal amyloid
Amyloid deposition
may also damage the walls of blood vessels in the brain.
Within the cytoplasm
of abnormal neurones are pathological structures called neurofibrillary
tangles.
Reduction in
production of acetylcholine may partly account for memory disturbance.
The second most
common cause of dementia has a vascular aetiology and is usually called
multi-infarct dementia.
Third most common is
Lewy bodies dementia.
Lewy bodies are
collections of abnormal protein found inside neurones.
Other forms of dementia are Creutzfeldt – Jakob, Huntington`s and Parkinson’s disease.