Introduction
Introduction
Alzheimer disease,
which occurs in approximately 5 percent of the population above the age
of sixty-five. It is characterized by progressive loss of memory and other
mental functions. At first, the person may have difficulty remenbering
appointments and sometimes fails to think of words or people's names. As
time passes, he or she shows increasing confusion and increasing difficulty
with tasks such as balancing a checkbook. In the early stages, the memory
deficit involves recent events; but as the disease progresses, even old
memories are affected. If the person ventures outside alone, he or she
os likely to get lost. Eventually, the person becomes bedridden, completely
helpless, and, finally, succumbs.
Alzheimer disease produces
severe degeneration of the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, especially
the association cortex of the frontal and temporal lobes. Figure a abd
b show photographs of the brain of a patient with Alzheimer disease and
of a normal brain. It shows how much wider the sulci are in the damage
brain, especially in the frontal and temporal lobes, indicating substantial
loss of cortical tissue.
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