Professor Kenneth Kosik defines Alzheimer's disease as a slowly progressing illness that deteriorates the brain and impairs many major cognitive functions.
Transcript:
Alzheimer’s disease affects elders. It affects their cognition. We generally think about Alzheimer’s affecting memory, however, the disease affects more than simply memory, it affects personality, it affects emotions. It’s a slow, insidious process that causes deterioration of the brain in which many cognitive functions become impaired. Now, that is a clinical definition, it is not the most precise definition. The most precise definition, actually, is the histological or pathological definition. And to actually diagnose Alzheimer’s and use that word we need to see senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles under the microscope of the brain tissue.
Professor Kenneth Kosik explains that Alzheimer's disease is traditionally diagnosed by a physician taking a history and physical. In the near future, neuroimaging will provide an accurate diagnosis.
Professor Kenneth Kosik describes the relationship between the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and Alzheimer’s disease. APP mutations are linked to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Professor Kenneth Kosik discusses neurofibrillary tangles, which form inside a cell and are made up of a protein called tau. There is a strong relationship with plaques and amyloid deposition.
Professor Kenneth Kosik discusses the relationship between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease. MCI is a predictor of Alzheimer's disease.