The neurobiology of Alzheimer disease is complicated. It’s more complex and is associated with a mix of both genetic, lifestyle and environmental risk factors. Late onset Alzheimer disease, as the name suggests, occurs late, after the age of 65. Early onset Alzheimer disease occurs before the age of 65. It’s also called Familial Alzheimer disease because it’s caused by one of three autosomal dominant genes (if you have a copy of the gene, then you will get the disease). There are two main forms of Alzheimer disease, an early onset type which accounts for about 5% cases, and a late onset type which accounts for the rest. Alzheimer’s exacts a great emotional toll on someone’s family and friends, both in terms of carer stress, and in seeing the person they love gradually slip away as the disease slowly erodes their personality until there’s nothing left. That’s a staggering economic cost, but the human cost is higher. According to the 2018 report by the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 5.7 million Americans are diagnosed with Alzheimer dementia, costing their economy $277 billion in 2018. It causes a spectrum of memory impairment from forgetting where the car keys are through to forgetting to eat or drink. It’s the most common progressive neurodegenerative disease worldwide and accounts for 60 to 80% of dementia cases. In her latest blog post, Dr Caroline Leaf attempted to tackle the complex topic of Alzheimer disease.Īlzheimer disease is an important topic.
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