What is Alzheimer Dementia? – Video

Video at a Glance

• Dementia is defined as a progressive failure of cerebral functions that aren’t caused by a decreased level of consciousness (LOC).
• The three types of dementias are cortical, subcortical, or both.
• The major types of cortical dementias are Alzheimer and Picks disease.
• The major types of subcortical dementias are Parkinson and Huntington disease.
• Dementias affecting both the cortex and subcortex are incredibly rare and include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other infections.
• Alzheimer disease presents with neuron loss and brain atrophy, causing decreased language skills, concentration, emotional instability, total loss of cognitive ability, and eventual death.
• While we do not know the pathophysiology of Alzheimer, there are three theories, though there are disputes over whether they are simply correlations and not causations.
• One theory posits an acetylcholine deficit damages neurons and causes brain atrophy.
• Another theory, named the Baptist theory, posits the increased production of beta-amyloid (Ba) proteins in Alzheimer patients create plaques that damage neurons and cause brain atrophy.
• The last theory, named the Tauist theory, posits an increased production of tau proteins form neurofibrillary tangles that damage neuron structure leading to neuron death and brain atrophy.