- Home
- Senior Health
- Alzheimer's
- Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease
- By Gerald P Njuguna
- Published October 10th, 2008
- Alzheimer's
- Unrated
People who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease have a huge quantity of plaques and tangles that are accumulated in their brain. There are mainly two types of Alzheimer’s Disease:
According to various researchers, these two types are: Familial Alzheimer’s disease and Sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.
Familial Alzheimer’s is not one of those common diseases and is characterized by an early onset and affects that are less than 10% of Alzheimer’s patients. People who suffer from this disease have a “deterministic gene” that is the main cause of worry as it is the one that causes the development of this disease in a major way. But as the disease is not very common and forms a rare case, only a few families on the entire planet have been found to carry the deterministic gene for Alzheimer’s.
On the other hand, if we have a close look at the Sporadic Alzheimer’s, then it said that the disease is the more common form of the disease, as compared to the former one. There is no deterministic gene present in Sporadic Alzheimer’s patients and the commencement of it starts very late in a life span. (usually after age 60)
The fact is that no particular gene is linked to this form of the disease, but still a lot of genetic factors have their role in the development
of this disease.
According to the Doctors, a lot of risk factors have been identified that can lead to the development of Alzheimer’s. They are:
According to various researchers, these two types are: Familial Alzheimer’s disease and Sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.
Familial Alzheimer’s is not one of those common diseases and is characterized by an early onset and affects that are less than 10% of Alzheimer’s patients. People who suffer from this disease have a “deterministic gene” that is the main cause of worry as it is the one that causes the development of this disease in a major way. But as the disease is not very common and forms a rare case, only a few families on the entire planet have been found to carry the deterministic gene for Alzheimer’s.
On the other hand, if we have a close look at the Sporadic Alzheimer’s, then it said that the disease is the more common form of the disease, as compared to the former one. There is no deterministic gene present in Sporadic Alzheimer’s patients and the commencement of it starts very late in a life span. (usually after age 60)
The fact is that no particular gene is linked to this form of the disease, but still a lot of genetic factors have their role in the development
According to the Doctors, a lot of risk factors have been identified that can lead to the development of Alzheimer’s. They are:
- Alzheimer’s disease usually develops after age 65. Not much people age 65-74 have Alzheimer’s. But after that, the risk of developing the disease doubles every 5 years after age 65. more than half of the total population over 85 is at risk of suffering from this disease.
- Heredity – Your chances of suffering from this disease increase up to 7 times if the disease is heredity, that is any of your closed relative has/had this disease in the past. This number is even higher if a lot of family members have the disease.
- Genetics – The APOE-e4 gene is responsible for causing this disease in a major way. But even if it is called as a risk gene, it is not likely that if you have this gene, you would surely suffer from the disease. But still the chances are there.
- Gender Factor – Women are more likely to suffer from this disease and have a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s than men.
- Education – it seems bizarre but a lot of studies have shown a connection between less education and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. But till a lot of research needs to be done on this point.
- Head Injuries are always linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s.