Q49.5-3CC
Question
If you could detect early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, would you expect to see brain changes that were similar to, although less extensive than, those seen inpatients who have died of this disease? Explain.
Step-by-Step Solution
VerifiedIf Alzheimer’s is detected in the early stages, there will be no brain changes observed, unlike those seen in patients who have died of Alzheimer’s. The possible observations will be plaques, tangles, missing regions of the brain, and other less visible abnormalities causing damage to the brain.
Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disorder because of which the brain cells die, and the brain shrinks. It has been observed that the brain cells die because of the build-up of proteins in and around the brain cells.
Amyloid is one of the proteins involved in the formation of plaque around brain cells. Another protein that leads to tangles in brain cells is tau.
As Alzheimer's disease progresses, neurons across the brain begin to die. The connections between neurons start to deteriorate, and all those brain regions may begin to diminish.
Memory loss and trouble recalling conversations are early-stage Alzheimer's symptoms. Alzheimer's disease starts in the brain several years before symptoms appear.
No similarity in the brain can be observed between the patient with early-stage Alzheimer’s and the patient who died because of Alzheimer’s. The protein plaques and tangles will be observed in both the brain cells of both the patients.
The symptoms are still developing in the early stages, and the person who has died has had overgrown all the signs; thus, there will be changes in the structure of the brain of an Alzheimer’s developing patient and the dead patient.
Thus, no similarity in the brain is observed in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s and those who died due to Alzheimer’s.