by Erin Cole

Created on: May 11, 2009

OVERVIEW

Alzheimer's disease is one of the largest growing neurological disorders of our time, making it imperative that we identify the pathology and discover a cure for family and caregivers who must cope with the difficult challenges due to the degeneration of memories, intellect, and the self of their loved ones. Alzheimer's is a debilitating and irreversible disease, which deteriorates neurons and progresses into every region of the brain. Because interconnection of each region in the brain is necessary for effective functioning, cognitive impairment from Alzheimer's disease is severe and extensive.

Another unfortunate characteristic of Alzheimer's is the lapse of decades between the beginning of neurological disturbance and the first recognition of memory trouble. By the time most individuals seek help, the disease has already advanced into memory circuits and is considered to be in an early to moderate stage of pathology.

STAGES

Researchers have noted six important stages in Alzheimer's disease, often grouped into three categories: the first two stages usually go unnoticed and are referred to as the silent stage, the third and forth stages emphasize diagnosis and treatment, and stages five and six depict severe cognitive dysfunction and long-term care. Though each individual has varying and unique intellectual characteristics, there are common personality changes and distinct neurological damage in each stage of this terminal disease.

STAGE ONE

In the initial stage of Alzheimer's disease, individuals are unaware of the damage beginning to occur in the transentorhinal region of their brain, a central location which will gain access into the limbic system, the core of emotional processing. At this point, there seems to be no hindrance with memory or intellectual functioning and medical screening is unable to detect any neurological disturbances. The individual is living life as usual.

STAGE TWO

In stage two, the average individual inflicted with Alzheimer's might experience slight memory or analytical deficits, but these earliest signs are often mistaken for normal forgetfulness. Even though there may be no medical concern, the disease continues to progress as synaptic circuitry in the brain disentangles, accumulating amyloid plaques that block signals between neurons. Once neurons are no longer firing, they deteriorate into what is known as cytoskeletons, which founder Alois Alzheimer discovered in his autopsies of patients

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