ALZHEIMERS DISEASE: FACTS AND FINDINGS.

Alzheimer?s disease is the most common form of dementia, which is set to rise significantly. With a rapidly aging population, the burden of the disease will be profound affecting not just the person afflicted, but also the caregiver and family. Among Asian population including India and China, the prevalence of the disease is lower compared to the Latino and non-Latino Americans, increased with age and was not associated with gender or literacy. Possible explanations include low overall life expectancy, short survival with the disease and low agespecific incidence potentially due to differences in the underlying distribution of risk and protective factors compared with populations with higher prevalence. While the exact cause of Alzheimer?s disease remains unknown, one of its pathological hallmarks is clear ? the clumping of APP product in brain when the protein is abnormally processed. Finding out more about APP can help researchers gain a better understanding of the disease and potentially identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets for it. However, up till this point, little was known about the APP?s primary function in brain. Advanced research has identified the major causes -- amyloid deposition, tangle of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. As our knowledge increases the treatment and their application also developed to cope with the debilitating and devastating disease. The three major hypotheses regarding Alzheimer?s gives this information that the main causes are the generation of clumps of amyloid, the neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein and the reduced synthesis of neurotransmitter acetylcholine; the proteins damage the neurons although the cause for most Alzheimer?s cases is still unknown. Although the two hypotheses amyloid and tau has been widely accepted, current research on Alzheimer?s disease has revealed some other genetic, dietary and also some environmental factors involved in the pathogenesis of this disease. In this review paper I have tried to shed a little light on the epidemiology, molecular pathogenesis, genetic basis, some possible risk factors and effect of several dietary factors, diagnosis and treatment regarding Alzheimer?s disease. Recent developments and findings in genetics and treatment of this disease are highlighted here.