Alzheimer's Disease Case Study

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Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease with Nanotechnology Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the primary common cause of dementia in the geriatric population in the world. Due to the progressive nature of the disease, early diagnosis and treatment are essential in preventing more severe symptoms. Currently, there is no single effective diagnostic tool used in the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and medications designed to treat the disease only treat its symptoms (Silva, et al., 2012). The use of nanotechnology in detecting and treating AD at an early age will help to minimize the damage done to the brain by this disease. Research involving the amyloid cascade hypothesis will help to determine new and more effective diagnostic and treatment methods.
Background and rationale

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the excessive deposition of fibrillar amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, amyloid plaques (AP), cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) that are primarily made up of tau (τ) protein. The copious amount of these lesions supports the amyloid cascade hypothesis as the major causative incident in the development of AD (Roher, et al., 2013). The amyloid cascade hypothesis states that Alzheimer’s …show more content…
Levels of tau and Aβ peptides in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are markers that are currently being used in detecting AD. The issue with this detection method lies in the utilization of CSF. CSF presents very little correlation between Aβ peptide levels and the severity of the disease (Leung, et al., 2013). Other protein-based biomarkers have been used also, but with little success. Utilizing Aβ peptides as potential biomarkers may allow for precise detection of AD and for understanding the severity of the disease in each affected person. In order to establish this avenue of treatment, the use of nanotechnology is
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