Alzheimer's disease relate to aging Research Paper

Alzheimer's disease relate to aging - Research Paper Example This document examines the prevalence of Alzheimer’s among the elderly persons and the resources available in Marshall County for helping the victims of the condition. As persons advance in age, the body undergoes various changes in their brains and results to dementias (UCSF Memory and Aging Center, 2014). For example, the brain shrinks that occur in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. The shrinking of the brain interferes with memory, learning, planning, etc. The changes in neurons and neurotransmitters can degrade the white matter and result to reduction in communication (UCSF Memory and Aging Center, 2014). In some instances, plagues and tangles structures develops outside and inside of the neurons respectively thus causing the brain cells to stop working and eventually die thus causing failure of memory, change in characters and complications with carry out day to day activities (Swaab et al., 2011). Also, changes in blood vessels occur with age, resulting to reduced blood flow due to narrowing of the arteries and less growth of new capillaries. With age, there is an increase in brain inflammation and increase in damages caused by free rad icals that interfere with normal functioning of the brain (Swaab et al., 2011). The changes in brain that occurs with age are the most likely cause of Alzheimer’s among the elderly persons. The most notable change in brain with age is atrophy or the shrinking of some parts of the brain, the secretion on wobbly molecules known as free radicals, the brain inflammation and dysfunction of the mitochondrial resulting to collapse of generation of energy within the cells (Swaab et al., 2011). Various studies have established that five percent of persons with Alzheimer’s occur due to inherited factors from the parents. An example is the familial Alzheimer’s disorder caused by alterations occurring in one of the inheritable genes in human