1 Logsdon

Chloe Logsdon

Rebecca Morean

ENG 1201

8 April 2020

The real causes of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease is the leading cause of mental impairment in elderly people and is

the most common cause of dementia; this disease causes many psychotic symptoms causing the

humans to forget in phases, but what really causes this disease? Many people believe that one

day someone wakes up and gets Alzehimer’s but they truly don’t know why. Alzheimer’s just

isn’t a disease that everyone gets or it just comes out of nowhere, they’re reasonings on how

humans get it. A lot of people like to argue on the actual causes of this disease and say it’s either

genetic or happens suddenly, which is partly true but there is more to it. I think that genetics,

your lifestyle, injuries, and what you eat are the main causes for this disease. This disease mainly

affects elderly between the ages of sixty-five and up, but it can affect people in their 30s-40s

which is called early-onset. The longer you have Alzheimer’s the symptoms began to worsen.

Alzeheimers is a disease found in the brain that causes dementia. It is a loss of memory,

judgment, and the ability to function as a whole. This all doesn’t just happen at once it happens

to the human brain slowly. You start noticing the symptoms such as confusion, serious memory

loss, forgetting new information, mood and behavior changes, being confused about time,

setting, relatives, and friends. Later on serious side effects that can happen would be difficulty in

speaking, swallowing, sleeping, and the use of the bathroom. Some side effects that I see in my

grandma are constant sleeping, staying up and watching the same show/ channel very late like 6
 2 Logsdon

am, refusing to eat, not wanting to shower or change clothes, constant bowel movements, rapid

mood swings, loud voice, severe memory loss, and OCD.

As many other people in the world have experienced Alzehiemer’s first hand, so have I.

My grandma who is eighty-two years old currently lives with me and has this disease. What she

is going through I witness everyday. It’s sad to say Alzehimer’s is a nasty disease that is very sad

to watch develop through a human, especially one you’re close to. You watch someone you

might have known for so long become almost like a stranger and you question yourself to why or

how this happened to them. My grandma has never been the nicest/ happiest person you’ve

known, but as soon as she got this disease she’s turned into someone I can’t even recognize;

she’s a lot grumpier and seems more sad. She’s very confused about what’s going on and why

she keeps forgetting more and more. She used to always tell us that if you ate coconut oil

everyday it helped prevent Alzheimer’s, months later she became diagnosed with this disease

after we found out her trip to her hair salon in Dayton ended up being a trip to Cedarville

University over an hour away.

There are many causes to this disease and some of them are abnormal build-up of

proteins in and around brain cells, genetics, down’s syndrome, severe head injuries, heart

diseases, hearing loss, depression, loneliness, social isolation, and a sedentary lifestyle. Everyone

has a different cause to why they develop this disease. “Scientists don’t yet fully understand what

causes Alzheimer’s disease in most people” (National Institute on Aging, 2018). This article

mentions how older age isn’t a cause for this disease. “The causes probably include a

combination of age-related changes in the brain, along with genetic, environmental, and lifestyle

factors” (National Institute on Aging, 2018). People will argue you and say that lifestyle reasons
 3 Logsdon

aren’t the cause for a disease like this and claim that everyone is wrong, but you could be the

healthiest person out there and still get this disease.

With the abnormal build-up of proteins in and around brain cells I think that this is the

main cause for this disease. Scientists have done their study on this one and said “One of the

proteins involved is called amyloid, deposits of which form plaques around brain cells. The other

protein is called tau, deposits of which form tangles within brain cells” (NHS.UK, 2018). This

cause seems to happen years before the symptoms begin to show. Lewy body dementia is

associated with the abnormal deposits of the protein build-up. With the protein build up this

protein is called alpha-synuclein which is found in the brain and “these deposits, called Lewy

bodies, affect chemicals in the brain whose changes, in turn, can lead to problems, with thinking,

movement, behavior, and mood” (National Institute on Aging, 2018). The amyloid protein is one

of the reasons for build up. This protein is a grouped protein that deposits into organs and tissues

between cells and occurs due to gene mutations in DNA. The protein called tau which builds up

when there is increased activity of enzymes in the brain. They tend to misfold and clump which

causes tangles in the brain.

The cause of genetics linking with Azeheimers can be from parent to child meaning that

the child can have a risk of early-onset Alzeheimers. “Researchers have found that this form of

the disorder can result from mutations in the APP, PSEN1, or PSEN2 genes. When any of these

genes is altered, large amounts of a toxic protein fragment called amyloid beta peptide are

produced in the brain” (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2020). The gene APP provides

instructions for making the protein amyloid, the gene PSEN1 provides the instructions for

making the protein called presenilin, and the gene PSEN2 provides instructions for making the

protein called presenilin two. You are more likely to develop the disease if your mother or
 4 Logsdon

grandmother has had it rather than if your father or grandfather has had it and this is because the

disease is most likely to be passed down through your mother's genes (Elizabeth Agnvall, 2011).

They have done a study to prove that for Alzeheimers to be genetic, especially more in the

mother’s genes “researchers at the University of Kansas followed fifty-three healthy men and

women aged sixty and over for two years. Eleven of them had a mother with Alzheiemer’s

disease, ten had a father with the disease and thirty-two had no family history. The groups were

given brain scans and memory tests throughout the study” (Elizabeth Agnvall, 2011). It is proven

that people whose family members such as parents or grandparents have had Alzeheimers have a

higher risk of developing this disease.

Down’s syndrome being a cause for this disease is because these people are at higher risk

for it. Research shows that “people with Down syndrome have three copies of many genes in

each cell, including the APP gene, instead of the usual two copies” (U.S. National Library of

Medicine, 2020). The production of excess amyloid in cells can increase the risk of Alzeheimers

for those who have Down syndrome. The type of Alzheimer’s disease won’t be considered

inherited, they just tend to have a higher risk. “People with Down syndrome account for less than

1 percent of all cases of Alzheimer disease” (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2020). Those

with Down syndrome most likely won’t develop Alzheimer’s until they’re older between their

fifties-sixties It is a fifty/fifty when it comes to Down syndrome people developing this disease.

Severe head injuries are seen to be a cause for Alzeheimers. With having multiple or one

major head injury it can result in you having a higher risk for this disease. Having/ experiencing

a traumatic brain injuring disrupts your normal brain function as it is and affects that person’s

cognitive abilities. For instance when you get a head injury like a concussion most of the time

you're told that you have to sit in a dark room and use very little light, can’t attend school or
 5 Logsdon

sports, can’t be around loud noises, and it hurts your brain to focus. Clearly with all of those

rules you know your brain has to be restricted from a lot because it just experienced unusual

head trauma that caused damage even though most of the time you heal and go back to normal.

Now we are seeing that brain trauma and head injuries are linked to being at risk for

Alzeheimers. “With a history of moderate traumatic brain injury had a 2.3 times greater risk of

developing Alzheimer’s than seniors with no history of head injury, and those with a history of

severe traumatic brain injury had a 4.5 times greater risk” (Alzheimer’s Association, 2020). The

more severe the head injury is the higher risk you are at developing Alzheimer’s later on in life.

Cardiovascular diseases are seen as another cause for Alzeheiemer’s. Alzheimer’s disease

affects cardiovascular systems as it is so having one already is an even bigger risk. Research has

been found that whatever is good for the heart will also be good for the brain. Vascular damage

can cause damage to brain cells and when there is damage to the brain cells there is higher risk

for dementia and Alzheimer’s. “The strong association between dementia and cardiovascular

disease, particularly in terms of the heart condition’s tendency to starve the brain of blood. The

brain is sensitive to changes in oxygen supply” (Shirley Newell, 2019). If Alzeheimer’s already

affects the heart and you have a cardiovascular disease you have a much higher chance.

Hearing loss isn’t a main cause but it can be one that we look at. You are up to 5 times

more likely to develop this disease if you have hearing loss. Men with hearing loss are at higher

risk than women are. “Men with hearing loss were sixty-nine percent more likely to develop

dementia than those with no hearing impairment. The risk escalates as a person’s hearing loss

worsens. Those with mild hearing impairment are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia

compared to those with normal hearing” (Beltone, 2020). Those with hearing loss get brain

overload creating the risk for this disease because when it is difficult for someone to hear their
 6 Logsdon

brain is working to understand what the noise is and what that person is saying. Straining of the

brain are major risks for Alzheimers.

Depression is seen as a cause of Alzheimer's. Depression already has a major effect on

the body, brain, human interaction, careers, and relationships. Depression affects one's entire life

and not a lot of people understand that it has long-term effects and not just short. “This is

because it has become obvious that what we call major depression may be a symptom of a

number of different underlying brain disorders, rather than, as presently defined, a single

disorder (though with a number of variations)” (Joe Herbert, 2016). Depression is linked and can

be symptoms of other disorders. With depression already affecting the brain they’re saying that

“There is experimental evidence that high cortisol exacerbates brain damage, including that seen

in Alzheimer’s” (Joe Herbert, 2016). Inflammation happens in the brain when you suffer with

depression and now they’re seeing it happen with Alzeheimers, meaning when you have

depression and it’s inflammaging your brain it’s doing the same effect as this disease.

Loneliness and social isolation tie up in the same position. These are also seen as causes

for Alzeheimers. This makes you feel disconnected from others. “In analyses, we tested the

hypothesis that a higher level of loneliness is associated with an increased risk of AD. We also

examined variables that might account for the association, the relation of loneliness to change in

cognition, change in loneliness, and the relation of loneliness to the neuropathological lesions

most commonly associated with dementia in old” (Robert S. Wilson, PhD; Kristin R. Krueger,

PhD; Steven E. Arnold, MD, 2007). My grandma's doctor had warned us that if she is self

isolated or alone all the time her Alzheimer's can worsen. Loneliness and social isolation isn’t a

main cause but it can become a main cause when you already have the disease.
 7 Logsdon

The last major cause for Alzeheimers is a sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary lifestyle is a

certain type of lifestyle that involves either no activity at all or very little. This lifestyle includes

watching tv all the time, being on your phone, playing video games, socializing but in a “lazy”

way, reading, and overall something to where you’re not being mobile the entire day. This can

cause Alzeheimers disease because it’s kinda how cardiovascular diseases cause it. When your

heart isn’t the healthiest your brain isn’t the healthiest. Your diet, how much you exercise, sleep

schedule, and your mental health are main factors that you have to pay attention to. If you are not

taking care of yourself your brain has to do more work than it normally would causing it to

“overwork” itself and when it does it’s at risk for Alzheimers.

There has been found that you can attend counselling that can help prevent or slow down

the risk of Alzeheimer’s. You could figure out what you are suffering that might be putting you

at risk later on in life for getting the disease such as depression, so the sooner you treat it the

better. If you feel like you might be suffering from depression or anxiety, talk to someone you

are close to or feel comfortable with. You can look up ways to help cope with depression and

anxiety as well. You can even find ways to reduce what you’re feeling and help you find ways of

distraction.

Increasing your physical activity and beginning to exercise can prevent this and the

higher your metabolism is for instance when you’re younger the more active you’ll be willing to

be. You can do things like go on a run, walk, or even a hike. Following along to someone's

workout routine or videos help a lot as well. Finding a workout partner can make physical

activity more fun. You can find a place where you feel comfortable working out such as your

home, outside, a gym, or at a friends house. Eating healthy also ties in with physical activity.

You can find healthy recipes that taste good all over the internet, especially pinterest.
 8 Logsdon

In conclusion the main causes for Alzeheimrs are abnormal build-up of proteins in and

around brain cells, genetics, down’s syndrome, severe head injuries, heart diseases, hearing loss,

depression, loneliness, social isolation, and a sedentary lifestyle. If you detect and treat your

habits now, you can help prevent the main causes for Alzeheimers now. Even though one of the

causes is that it can be genetic the other causes can still help you prevent that and your family as

well. Alzeheimers is a sad disease to watch people develop and knowing the causes and effects

might help people realize that they don’t want the risk of getting it and how much it affects the

human overall.

Works Cited

“Alzheimer Disease - Genetics Home Reference - NIH.” U.S. National Library of Medicine,

National Institutes of Health, ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/alzheimer-disease.

 9 Logsdon

“Hearing Loss And Alzheimer Prevention.” Beltone Hearing Aids - Award Winning Solutions

For Your Hearing Loss, 2012, www.beltone.com/da/why-beltone/press-room/hearing-

loss-alzheimers.

Herbert, Joe. “Depression Is a Risk for Alzheimer's: We Need to Know Why.” Psychology

Today, Sussex Publishers, 25 Apr. 2016, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hormones-

and-the-brain/201604/depression-is-risk-alzheimer-s-we-need-know-why.

Newell , Shirley. “Alzheimer's and Cardiovascular Disease: Aegis Living.” Wwwaegislivingcom

The Link between Alzheimers and Cardiovascular Disease Comments, 2019,

www.aegisliving.com/resource-center/the-link-between-alzheimers-and-cardiovascular-

disease/.

“Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).” Alzeheimer's Association , 2019,

www.alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-dementia-traumatic-brain-injury-TBI-ts.pdf.

Wilson, Robert S. “Loneliness and Risk of Alzheimer Disease.” Archives of General Psychiatry,

American Medical Association, 1 Feb. 2007,

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/482179..

“What Is Alzheimer's?” Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia, www.alz.org/alzheimers-

dementia/what-is-alzheimers.
10 Logsdon