Neurological Disorders: Alzheimer’s Disease
The burden of neurological disorders has increased substantially around the world, one being Alzheimer’s disease. As life expectancies have increased, the rate at which people experience dementia is far higher than that of several years ago. Population changes and growth have also registered more disorders. (Vlassov, 2017) Alzheimer's disease leaves the mind at its mercy through its slow onset to the failure of the brain.
Although there is currently no known cure, developments in medications intended to do this have still demonstrated the ability to slow mental deterioration. However, controversy has arised with various approaches to treat the disorder. Researchers have hypothesized that some of these attempts are only useful years and years before the symptoms of Alzheimer's becomes evident. What this would unfortunately mean is that once the devastating symptoms-delusion, depression, aggression-are prominent, all attempts to rescue the brain from mental decline may be too little, too late. (Harder, 2004) On a biological level, Alzheimer's’ defining characteristics include the accumulation of senile plaques at the ends of brain neurons. The β-amyloid is thought to be the primary instigator for Alzheimer's damage to the brain, so it is unsurprisingly the focus of many attempts to cure the disease. Many people have attempted to find the inhibitors for these secretases, and it is a focal point of attempts to find a cure. In addition, it should also be stated that this amyloid does not work alone. Metal ions become much more concentrated in the brain with age, and they also play a large role in the onset of dementia and related symptoms. Ashley Bush of Harvard University discovered that zinc and copper both aggravate β-amyloids by preventing them from dissolving. (Helmuth, 2002)
Many failed treatments for Alzheimer’s have showed promise in prevention and lowering the risk of the disorder. For example, some studies have shown that throughout Alzheimer’s medical history, women can lower their risk of developing it by taking estrogen supplements. (Hamilton, 2018) Recent studies also indicate that hormone replacement therapies, which were originally discounted more than a decade ago, could protect women's brains. A study looking at 15,000 women in California led to the discovery of a link between a woman's reproductive history and her risk of mental deterioration in her later years. This is one of multiple studies that indicates that the risk of developing Alzheimer's is reduced by more pregnancy. This suggests that the female sex hormone, estrogen, is linked to a woman's risk of developing dementia. This is because estrogen is highest at puberty and during pregnancy. It is during menopause that the hormone is at its lowest. Some theorize that it is the dramatic transitions of the levels of the hormone that causes problems, and not directly the hormones themselves. Hormone replacement therapy can mediate the issue regardless of the cause because it also minimizes the dramatic changes of menopause. (Hamilton, 2018)
Beyond just the scientific realm, caretakers and sufferers of the disease alike need to live their lives. Studies have been conducted to show the nonmedical accounts of living with the illness as well. The cost of caring for Alzheimer's sufferers varies, and the psychological cost of caregiving is associated with harmful health effects. Such include high rates of depression, abuse of alcohol, and poorer physical health. (Belgrave, Allen-Kelsey, Smith, and Flores 2004) Alzheimer's disease steals the independence of both caretaker and sufferer alike, and is as much of a lifestyle inhibitor as it is a neurological disorder. It renders sufferers helpless and inflicts pain and patience-testing on caregivers. Valuable studies have shown that Alzheimer's can be categorized as distinctly non-medical. Dementia is not necessarily the most defining characteristic of a caregiver's difficulties and responsibilities. Caretakers associate caring for the afflicted with observations of continuity and discontinuity in who the sufferer had been. Many in one particular study did not view Alzheimer’s as the largest problem, but only part of the bigger picture. (Belgrave, 2004)
Although new attempts to cure the disease through drugs do not surface often, research for therapies and life maintenance for Alzheimer's sufferers remains active, and continues to progress. There continue to be promising treatments and adjustments underway that target both neurological elements of the disease and behavioral modifications. Evidence of how hormonal differences between men and women affects their brains will also affect doctors’ ability to diagnose accurately, which will, in turn, affect the future of treating the disease. (Neurology Reviews, 2015) As of now we do not have neuroprotective therapy for Alzheimer's disease, but breakthroughs are promising. The wide range of factors that contribute to this disease makes it difficult for trials to be conducted, and one drug will affect different sufferers in other ways. However, steady developments are being made in understanding these various pathologies, which spells good things for the next generation.