Alzheimer’s: A progressive brain disease: Causes, symptoms, and prevention

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irretrievable, mysterious, and devastating neurodegenerative disorder that leads to memory loss and impaired cognitive function. Specifically, AD patients suffer from poor thinking skills and lack potential to perform simple activities. Dementia is multifactorial disorder and considered as the main cause of AD. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the presence of large quantities of two remarkable structures, i.e., amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles which are the hallmarks of AD. Both of these structures are misfolded proteins and thought to play an important role in the degeneracy of neurons, ultimately leading to most of AD symptoms. Another common feature of AD is the wrecking of intracellular connections which results in reduced cell function and cell death. Neurofibrillary tangles are twisted fibers which are found inside the neurons and are produced by hyperphosphorylation of a microtubule-associated protein, i.e., tau. Smoking and obesity are the putative risk factors for dementia and cardiovascular disease. Deficiency of vitamins, especially thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6), folate (B9), and cobalamin (B12), is associated with cognitive dysfunction and AD. Type-2 diabetes (T2D) and prediabetic insulin resistance have also been suggested as the risk factors for cerebrovascular injury and cognitive decline, eventually leading to dementia. Cognitive impairment in T2D is caused by deposits of amylin, an amyloidogenic hormone synthesized and cosecreted with insulin by pancreatic β-cells. The menace of AD can be lowered down by certain anti-inflammatory drugs, proper intake of vitamin B, nurturing physical and leisure activities. In addition, AD can also be controlled by decreasing the candidate risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Anti-amyloid approaches such as vaccination may provide a promising tool to establish safer therapeutic approaches.