Can we treat Alzheimers 20 years early? 郭丕鈺 王家豪 張琮貿

Information  accounts for 60% to 70% of cases of dementia  chronic neurodegenerative disease  starts slowly and gets worse over time  is believed to be genetic with many genes usually involved

Pathology(amyloid plaques)

Process of disease  Pre-dementia: are often mistakenly attributed to ageing or stress. The most noticeable deficit is short term memory loss.  Early: difficulties with language, executive functions, perception (agnosia), or execution of movements

Process of disease  Moderate: unable to perform most common activities of daily living, speech difficulties become evident, reading and writing skills are also progressively lost.  Advanced: muscle mass and mobility deteriorate to the point where they are bedridden and unable to feed themselves

How do we detect AD in a living brain?

15 years process

 With comparison with diabetes, osteoporosis, AD also need to be pre- treated and pre-detected before we can see symptoms

New antibody or vaccine may help brain “clean” itself

Conclusion: prevention of AD  Prevent or slow the emergence of the clinical symdrome in people who are cognitively normal but already have the AD process in their brain  Genetic at-risk  Age at-risk who are in high danger in special detection which are known already in modern medicine  Test hypothesis that decrease amyloid burden will slow downstream neurodegeneration and cognitive decline