What Causes Alzheimer's Disease?

What Causes Alzheimer's Disease?

People with Alzheimer's disease are usually older, but the disease is not a normal part of aging. Scientists aren't sure why some people get it and others don't. But they do know that the symptoms it causes appear to come from two main types of nerve damage:

Nerve cell tangles, called neurofibrillary tangles.

Protein deposits called beta-amyloid plaques build up in the brain.

There are several types of ApoE that may be associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease. It may be that some forms of it can cause brain damage. Some scientists believe it plays a role in the formation of plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

Whether or not ApoE is partly responsible for Alzheimer's disease, genes almost certainly play a role in the disease. People whose parents had the disorder were also more likely to have it.

Evidence suggests that people with high blood pressure and high cholesterol have a greater chance of developing Alzheimer's. More rarely, head injuries can also be a cause—the more severe they are, the greater the risk of Alzheimer's.

Scientists are still working on many of these theories, but it's clear that the greatest risk associated with Alzheimer's is getting older and having Alzheimer's in your family.

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