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Alzheimer’s disease

Old age comes with many geriatric syndromes, disabilities, and diseases [1]. Yet, nothing compares to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a most devastating disorder of the human mind and the major cause of dementia. Alois Alzheimer called it “eine eigenartige Erkrankung der Hirnrinde” (a peculiar disease of the cortex) [2].

AD is the most common neurodegenerative disease, diagnosed by slowly progressing and irreversible impairment of learning and memory formation and disturbances in cognition, followed by remarkable changes in behavior and personality, and, in the end, loss of self [3].

Advanced or old age and family history of dementia are the only high-risk factors of AD. These are the risks we cannot do anything about. Other risks include cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, head trauma, obesity, psychiatric diseases, and stroke. APOE4 is the only major genetic risk factor of AD. Inherited dominant mutations in the APP, PS1 or PS2 genes cause 1% of AD, the early-onset familial forms of AD [3].

In the year 1900, in the USA, there were 10,000 people aged 100 years or more. In 2050, there will be 1,000,000. AD is diagnosed every 3 s, with the prevalence of 10% of the people at age 65, 20% at 75, and 40% at 85. Today 50 million people worldwide have Alzheimer, consuming 1% of world economy. in 2050 there will be 150 million. In the USA, $1 billion a day goes to health care of 6.08 million people living with Alzheimer at homes or nursing homes. In 2020, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting Alzheimer research with $2.8 billion [4,5].

1.

1.Franceschi, C.; Garagnani, P.; Morsiani, C.; Conte, M.; Santoro, A.; Grignolio, A.; Monti, D.; Capri, M.; Salvioli, S )2018) The continuum of aging and age-related diseases: Common mechanisms but different rates. Front Med 5: 61
2. Alzheimer, A (1907) Uber eine eigenartige Erkrankung der Hirnrinde. Zentralbl Nervenh Psych 18: 177–173

2.

3. Kurkinen M, Fułek M, Fułek K, Beszłej JA, Kurpas D, Leszek J (2023) The amyloid cascade hypothesis in Alzheimer’s disease: should we change our thinking? Biomolecules 13: 453

3.

4. Kurkinen M (2022) Astrocyte glutamate transporter EAAT2 in Alzheimer dementia. Glutamate and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Current and Emerging Treatments (Zoran Pavlovic, Ed.) Springer Nature, Berlin, Germany, pp. 229–260

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