Alzheimer's: Causes, Effects, Treatments, & Case History

This research reviews literature relative to Alzheimer's Disease and analyzes a case history of Alzheimer's Disease reported in the literature. With respect to the literature review, causes and effects of Alzheimer's Disease, as well as treatments for Alzheimer's Disease are addressed.

Alzheimer's disease is a form of senile dementia (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). At present, it is not known whether Alzheimer's disease is becoming more widespread, or merely being better diagnosed. The American Medical Association, however, estimates that nearly one in two persons over-85 years old suffers from some stage of Alzheimer's. Because the disease attacks the mind rather than the body, it tends to have a long duration, with the average Alzheimer's patient live for eight more years after diagnosis, and often requiring round-the-clock care (Seshadri, Wolf, Beiser, Au, McNulty, White, & D'Agnostino, 1997).

The neuropathology of Alzheimer's Disease in the brain has three elements (Carson & Butcher, 1996). These elements are (a) a widespread appearance of "senile plaques à dark-colored matter that are part of the debris of damaged nerve terminals, (b) a tangling of "normally regular patterning à neurofibrils à within neuronal cell bodies," and (c) an abnormal appearance of small holes in neuronal tissue (Carson & Butcher, 1996, p. 499).

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ies, according to Kalaria (1996), it is likely that the brain vasculature is continually modified by growth and repair mechanisms in attempts to maintain perfusion during aging and disease. Treatment for Alzheimer's disease Very little is known about the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's Disease. As a consequence, there is little effective therapy for the disease (Levine, 1993). Robinson (1997) indicated that the treatable causes of dementia may be structural, metabolic, toxic, infectious, nutritional, psychiatric, or drug-related. Barner and Gray (1998) reported on the use of Donepezil for the treatment of Alzheimer's patients. Donepezil is a cholinesterase inhibitor that is selective and specific for acetylcholinesterase. It is metabolized by hepatic isoenzymes CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 and undergoes glucuronidation. In 15ùweek and 30ùweek trials, donepezil was found to be effective in patients with mildùtoùmoderate Alzheimer's Disease as shown by improvements on standard assessment instruments (the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment ScaleùCognitive Subscale, and the Clinical Interview-Based Impression of Change with Caregiver Input). Adverse effects of donepezil were comparable with those of placebo. Barner and Gray (1998) concluded
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Approximate Word count = 2685
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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