Alzheimer's Disease: The Killer of Human Essence

The human brain is like a computer; it is complex in its own right, and hundreds of things can go wrong. One of the most painful illnesses related directly to the corrosion of the brain is Alzheimer's disease (AD).

What Is Alzheimer's Disease?

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative ailment distinguished by progressive cognitive deterioration together with waning activities of every day living and neurophsychiatric symptoms or behavioral changes. Sadly, it is the most common type of dementia.

Short term memory, or amnesia, is the earliest symptom. It usually manifests as a slight forgetfulness that gradually increases into a more prominent forgetfulness of older memories. As the disorder worsens, intellectual impairment broadens to the areas of language, movement, recognition, and decision-making skills. This occurs when the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain become disconnected from the limbic system. Since these changes are said to make up the quality of human essence, it's said that victims who suffer the loss of these skills also suffer the loss of human existence.

Can It Be Cured?

While the ultimate cause of the disease is unknown, genetic factors are known to be important in discovering a possible cure. Dominant mutations in three different genes have been identified in the past, and a new study indicates even more hope for those who undergo from this terrible disease.

An international study has found a receptor that acts as a kind of "traffic cop" in the brain, which seems to be linked to Alzheimer's disease.

The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine contributed their time and efforts in a worldwide group effort, which supplied a vital clue in how plaque finds its way to the decomposing brains of Alzheimer's patients.

Nature Genetics recently published the findings online. It is said the research isn't likely to change the course of the disease, which affects up to 10 percent of people over the age of 75, but it could lead scientists to better treatments.

Blood samples were used from more than 600 patients worldwide. The study elaborated on what happened when a protein receptor known as "sortilin" loses the capability to direct another protein to a neurological trash bin. Left to its own devices, the abandoned protein might begin to proliferate and litter the brain, possibly leading to Alzheimer's.

It's said that the genetic variants the study team acknowledged seem to prompt the sortilin to break down, although what causes the genes to leap to action is still unknown.

What was found to be most intriguing was how constant the findings were among research populations that included Israeli Arabs, white Europeans, African Americans and Caribbean Latinos.

While a sure-fire cure for Alzheimer's is still undiscovered, scientists everywhere are making great steps in the journey to that breakthrough.