SCIENCE
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE EXPLAINED
How this degenerative disease gradually shrinks brain cells and how it’s treated today
WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD
Around 500,000 new Alzheimer’s cases are diagnosed each year
A lzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a degenerative disease that leads to the loss of cognitive function, such as memory or critical thinking. It’s estimated that at least 55 million people around the world are living with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. Scientists have discovered that two proteins are involved in the development of Alzheimer’s, called amyloid and tau.
In a healthy brain, amyloid proteins are broken down and removed by enzymes. However, for someone with Alzheimer’s, these proteins are allowed to build up and form clumps called plaques. Amyloid plaques can then lodge themselves between brain cells called neurons and inhibit or disrupt their function. Tau proteins, on the other hand, group together in what’s called a ‘neurofibrillary tangle’ within neurons.