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Alzheimer's Case Study

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AD progression & diagnosis The progression of Alzheimer's can be described through several main cognitive stages starting at no cognitive decline through too mild to moderate before progressing to a more severe form of the disease. The pathological process associated with AD occurs roughly 20-25 years before symptoms appear (Mullane & Williams 2013). When symptoms become predominant Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed through a standardized scale (Mini-Mental State Exam) or questionnaire (Functional Activities Questionnaire) which is used to assess cognition (Desai & Grossberg 2005). Increasingly neuroimaging such as CT, MRI or PET scans are being suggested and used as a means to screen and diagnose for Alzheimer’s (Avila 2006; Borson et al. 2013). …show more content…

There are many different theories in relation to the pathology of AD; the most common include the role in which Amyloid-β proteins play, the effect of Tau protein aggregations along with synaptic dysfunction, especially the effect the loss of cholinergic neurons have and increasingly the role genetic factors seem to play. Amyloid cascade hypothesis The amyloid hypothesis was first proposed by John A. Hardy and Gerald A. Higgins in 1992 (Hardy & Higgins 1992) and has been the most popular theory to date as over the past decade the majority of research has focused on this pathway. To date amyloidal plaques are used as one of the two main hallmarks in identifying AD; the theory itself focuses on the production and altered clearance of amyloid; as it is hypothesised that the AβP molecule initiates the pathological cascade associated with AD (Hardy & Higgins …show more content…

2005) . Tau proteins are phosphorylated by two different types of kinases; which in turn regulate the binding of tau to microtubules and a genetic mutation in FAD (familiar AD) associated genes such as PS-1 can alter the function the allows for phosphorylation of tau proteins (Avila 2006). The formation of PHF-taus is thought to play a role in neurodegeneration as it’s believed to act as a neurotoxin. The increase and site of localisation of NFTs has been found to correlate with the level or stage of dementia a patient is experiencing; and consequently has been suggested to play a major role in the associated pathophysiology of AD (Avila 2006; Lee et al.

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