Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease characterized by progressive mental deterioration and memory loss. (Merrian-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus.)
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When I read this statement a quote comes to mind. “O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!” Walter Scott may not have been thinking of Alzheimer’s when he coined the phrase.
Unfortunately, and ironically, this quote seems appropriate for Alzheimer’s, especially when referring to the tangles forming in our brains from the accumulation of dead neurons after the TAU proteins have detached from the microtubules. These tangles are part of the amyloid cascade forming from the chronic inflammation inside our brain that practices to deceive our brains.
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However, to understand a person’s brain diagnosed with Alzheimer’s we need to understand the process of the amyloid cascade.
Jonathan Cherry, a graduate student at the University of Rochester of New York in the Department of Pathology, discusses the department’s work examining mouse brains in the amyloid cascade.
Jonathan relates that microglia is the immune defense of our central nervous system. These microglia are sensitive to degenerative changes and activate by going to the site of damage to destroy pathogens and damaged cells by phagocytosis (they destroy what’s dead).
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The microglia are the janitor cells of our brains.
Amyloid beta-protein is normally cleared from the synapses in our brain. When the amyloid proteins accumulate at the synapse site the microglia are stimulated causing them to become overactivated and produce an inflammation factor.
This inflammation factor actively begins to damage healthy neurons. As more neurons are damaged, more microglia are damaged which in turn increases inflammation, leading to neurodegeneration.
An article in News Medical Life Sciences by Sophie Mullany, B.S., reinforces this step-by-step- outline of the amyloid cascade of chronic inflammation relating to the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
While this inflammation is occurring neuro fibular tangles are also forming from accumulated dead neurons as the tau protein detaches from the microtubules of the neurons. The synapses in the affected neurons can no long function resulting in dead neurons accumulating and forming tangles of tau.
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Both amyloid plaque and tau tangles need to be present for the disease to present toxic symptoms often resulting in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s disease remains the leading cause of dementia worldwide and evidence suggests that the body’s inflammatory response may play a role in the development.
Neuroscientist, Daniel J. Levitin’s recent book ‘Successful Aging A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives,’ offers us hope by addressing what happens in our brain as we age.
Mr. Levitin proposes that aging can be a period of renewed engagement and energy. This period can also remind us that since we have already lived many years we are a lot better at some things such as recognizing pattern matching and understanding others’ emotions.
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Dr. Levitin also reminds us that keeping our brain stimulated with things that we love and enjoy is vitally compelling for our mental health. His research indicates that our peak age of happiness is 82years (he studied 60 countries) since we made it through most of the challenges in our lives.
Living a long, happy, healthy life is a beautiful thing, dealing with less can be a sorrow.
