What Alzheimer's Disease is, the 3 stages (mild, moderate and severe), diagnosis and treatment

1. ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD)
Evangelia Theocharous

2. WHAT IS ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
 AD is a slow, fatal disease of the brain. It starts
when two abnormal protein fragments, plaques and
tangles, begin to kill brain cells by blocking
communication among nerve cells and disrupting
processes that cells need to survive.
Plaqu
e
Tangle

3.  AD is the most common form of dementia and it
occurs to 1 out of 10 people over the age of 60.
Most of them are women.
 People with AD live an average of 8 years after
their symptoms become noticeable to others.
 Over time, the brain shrinks dramatically, affecting
nearly all its functions.
 At the very end, the disease destroys the part of
brain that regulates breathing and the heart, leading
to death.

4. Healthy Brain Brain with AD
Comparison of the 2

6. THE 3 STAGES OF AD
Mild Stage
 Plaques and Tangles affect areas of the brain that
control language (Temporal Lobe), memory and
more specifically formation of new memories
(Hippocampus). In addition there’s a little
impairment in areas that control thinking and
planning (Frontal Lobe)
 People in this stage notice problems such as
forgetting where they put everyday things, getting
lost, having trouble with some complex tasks or
with finding the right words and feeling less social.

7. Moderate Stage
 This stage is the longest one and this is when most
people get their diagnosis.
 Problems that started in the previous stage get worse.
 Also, patients in this stage have problems recognizing
family members, lose track of the day of the week, forget
personal information, like their address. They have
problems dressing up and later in this stage with bathing
and using the toilet. They also jumble their words and
have poor judgment about their health and safety.
Personality changes may also occur.

8. Severe Stage
 Most of the cortex is seriously damaged. The brain
shrinks dramatically. Individuals lose their ability to
communicate, to recognize family and loved ones and to
care for themselves.
 Along with the problems that already appeared at the
mild and moderate stages,
 they may be unable to speak, need help walking and
controlling their body posture, have more personality
changes.
 Daily tasks become very difficult and challenging.

9. DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
 Diagnosis of AD is not easy. A series of tests, very
careful medical evaluation and brain imaging
techniques are needed in order to get a diagnosis.
 Alzheimer's has no current cure, but treatments for
symptoms are available. Such as medication for
memory loss and treatments for behavioral
changes.

10. CONCLUSION
 Not all the information I found is in accordance with
the rest of them and that’s because there are still a
lot of unanswered questions about this disease.
 New technology has been a great help in
understanding better AD and for giving a better and
more accurate diagnosis.
 AD has been a subject of interest for the past 15
years for a lot of scientists and a great amount of
researches is taking place worldwide.

11.  Here is a video I found from the CNN that aired less than
a week ago, giving more hope for an earlier diagnosis of
the disease.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43_FRidwg5M

12. REFERENCES
 www.alz.org
 http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/alzheimers-
disease-stages
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wv9jrk-gXc
 http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alzheimersdise
ase.html
 http://nanda-diagnosis.blogspot.com/2012/11/12-
nursing-diagnosis-for-alzheimers.html
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj3GGDuu15I

13. WHAT I GAINED FROM THIS COURSE
 Neurobiology has always been high in my fields of
interest so I already had some basic knowledge.
However, I learned a lot from this course. I was able
to associate better the brain areas with the behavior
and how things work in our brains. Professor
Mason’s enthusiasm and simple explaining,
motivated me even more! Human brain is
fascinating and this course helped me understand it
a little better in theory and in action with the lab
videos. I feel so grateful and lucky that I had the
opportunity to participate in this course!