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Progressive Disorders: Quick Facts on Multiple Sclerosis & Alzheimer’s

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Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder in which cells target a part of your body. There is no way to turn it off, therefore it is a progressive disorder.

  • Affects 2.5 million people in North America + Europe
  • Immune system attacks myelin
  • Formation of scar tissue
  • Results in numbness, weakness, tremors, and vision disturbances
  • More common in women
  • May experience flare-ups due to stress and/or illness

Drugs can slow down multiple sclerosis, but cannot stop it entirely.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's Disease is a Progressive Disorder
Alzheimer's Protein Fibril

Not all memory impairment is due to Alzheimers. Alzheimers is a progressive disease that affects about:

  • 10% of US population over 65
  • 30% of US population over 85

Typical symptoms of Alzheimer’s include memory declines, confusion, irritability and difficulty eating/eliminating. Brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s Disease include:

  • Neurofibrillary tangles
  • Amyloid plaques – scar tissue, dead neurons
  • Changes in memory structures – hippocampus/amygdala, ventricles get larger
  • The disease attacks acetylcholine neurons that are responsible for neurons
  • Some evidence of chronic immune activity in the brain

Studies indicate that there is no clear evidence that sundowning in more common in Alzheimer’s patients, although it does occur.

The Bilingual Advantage

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A cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind. Her good news: Among other benefits, the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. Dr. Bialystok, 62, a distinguished research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, was awarded a $100,000 Killam Prize last year for her contributions to social science. We spoke for two hours in a Washington hotel room in February and again, more recently, by telephone. An edited version of the two conversations follows.

Read the entire article at The New York Times.

New Studies on Alzheimer’s Uncover Genetic Links

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The two largest studies of Alzheimer’s disease, an international analysis of genes of more than 50,000 people, have led to the discovery of five new genes that make the disease more likely in the elderly and provide tantalizing clues about what might start Alzheimer’s going and fuel its progress in a person’s brain.

The new genes add to a possible theme: so far genes that increase Alzheimer’s risk in the elderly tend to be involved with cholesterol and with inflammation. They also may be used to transport molecules inside cells.

Read the entire article at The New York Times.