Slowdown Of Brain's Waste Removal System Could Drive Alzheimer's

Maryasa Krivitskaya 3/20/15

Biology

Hawkes, Cheryl. "Slowdown Of Brain's Waste Removal System Could Drive Alzheimer's."    

IFLScience. N.p., 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

Alzheimer’s has been classified as a disease for more than a century. Since then, scientists have tried to find a cure for this disease, but unfortunately they have only been able to delay some of its effects, such as memory loss. This article discusses some of the possible reasons why finding a cure for the Alzheimer’s disease is so difficult. The brain is surrounded by a blood- brain barrier which is in charge of what goes in and out of the brain. When the brain is younger, the blood-brain barrier is tighter and therefore works better. As the brain gets older, the brain barrier works slower and the  β-amyloid, which is quickly removed from from a young brain, can sometimes build up as the brain ages. The collection of  the  β-amyloid in the brain is one of the causes of Alzheimers. Drugs, which can help cure some diseases can’t help to cure Alzheimers. This is because the blood-brain barrier is tight enough not to keep out the drugs from entering the brain. One way this problem can be resolved is by attaching the dug to a substance which the brain accepts, like glucose. As well identifying this disease at an early stage may help as well. New advances in technology, such as an MRI help identify the disease in and allow the patient to go into treatment as early as possible.

The search for a  cure for Alzheimer’s is extremely important for the human race. Alzheimers is the kind of disease which not only provides physical damage to its victim, but also emocional. Imagine not being able to remember any events of your life or not being able to recognise your own children. Many families suffer emotionally when a family member is diagnosed with Alzheimers. Finding a cure for this disease will decrease the amount of deaths and as well it might help find answers to other existing diseases.

This article clearly explains how Alzheimer's disease is caused and can be easily understood. The article also provides a diagram which shows the parts of a capillary. At the same time it would be more helpful if the article gave some numbers such as the percentage of people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease; as well the age which they are diagnosed with the disease. This would help strengthen the point that Alzheimer's disease is more likely found in older people.