Alzheimer’s is a disease that causes problems with memory, thinking and also behavior. With Alzheimer’s symptoms usually tend to develop slowly and get worse over time to the point where they affect daily tasks. The greatest known risk factor is increasing age but Alzheimer’s is not just a disease of old age due to the fact that approximately 200,000 Americans under the age of 65 have younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease. We have yet to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, but we have found some possible causes. Consumption of nitrates and nitrites, possible link to diabetes, Herpesvirus 6A and 7, and genetic factors.
Our first possible cause is the consumption of nitrate and nitrite. Sodium nitrite is deliberately added to meat and fish to prevent toxin production. Once nitrosamines hits the body it becomes highly reactive at the cellular level, which then alters gene expression and causes DNA damage (Nitrates). Due to the fact that nitrosamines produce biochemical changes within cells and tissues, it is conceivable that chronic exposure to low levels of nitrites and nitrosamines through processed foods, water, and fertilizers is responsible for the current epidemics of these diseases and the increasing of deaths.
Our second possible cause of Alzheimer’s is a newly discovered one which is the possible link to diabetes. Diabetes is associated with dementia, which is the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is involved in learning and memory, it seemed to be insensitive to insulin, and insulin seems to play a role in memory. Could not only affect your liver, muscle and fat cells but so it seemed that it could also affect your brain (Griggs). This diabetes occurs when liver, muscle and fat cells stop responding to efficiency to insulin, the hormone that tells them to absorb glucose from the blood. And although we have not received a definite consensus on the exact cause of Alzheimer’s, we figured out that the brains get clogged up with beta-amyloid plaques. An idea from this is that it is not the plaques themselves that cause the symptoms, but their precursors.
Another cause of Alzheimer’s could possibly be herpes virus. Study reports have demonstrated high levels of human herpesvirus 6A and 7 were found in brain samples that were showing signs of Alzheimer’s. By performing an analysis researchers have identified how viruses like HIV 6A and 7 are directly interacting with or coregultating known Alzheimer’s genes. Networks described suggestions that the hallmark may arise as collateral damage may be cause by the brain’s response to viral insult (Arizona State University). According to pathogens hypothesis of Alzheimer’s, the brain reacts to infection by engulfing viruses with the protein amyloid beta, which sequesters the invaders and prevent them from binding with cell surfaces and inserting their viral genetic payload into healthy cells.
The first and most thought of possible cause of Alzheimer’s is genetic factors. Researchers have recently discovered that there is another gene that could possibly pose an even greater risk, which is known as TOMM40. ApoE4 has been considered that strongest known genetic risk factor for cognitive decline, memory decline, Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia-related onset (University of Southern California). Analysis showed that there are unique effects of TOMM40 and ApoE4 effects on both the level of delayed recall prior to age of 60 and decline in immediate recall after 60.
As we have learned today, Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease that have yet to find definite causes for it. As of today we this is still an incurable disease that we have not found treatment for. This disease has begun to occur more frequently over the year due to all the viruses around us and all the preservatives we keep adding to our day to day foods. Due to the fact that we have no treatment we should find ways in which we can prevent it, such as eating healthier and not eating so much food that contains so many preservatives.
