Understanding Alzheimer's Disease: Causes, Symptoms & Progression

Alzheimer's disease is a primary cause of dementia, the loss of social and intellectual abilities to a degree that interferes with independent living on a daily basis. Memory loss and other intellectual challenges result from the degeneration of healthy brain tissue.

Plaques

• According to the Mayo Clinic, plaques, or a clumping of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain, can interfere with normal communication between brain cells and contribute to the death of neurons.

Tangles

• Tangles, or twisted threads of tau protein in the brain, can cause serious damage to neurons, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Risk Factors

• As reported by the Mayo Clinic, patients older than 65 who have a parent or sibling with Alzheimer's disease or have a mild cognitive impairment are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Lifestyle Factors

• People with less education have a greater risk of getting Alzheimer's disease than those with more education, according to the Mayo Clinic. High blood pressure and high cholesterol levels are risk factors of this disease.

Symptoms

• According to the Mayo Clinic, Alzheimer's patients have persistent memory problems that worsen, have problems with abstract thinking and have increasing difficulty with oral and written communication.