Alzheimer’s Disease and Amyloid Plaques

What Is Alzheimer's Disease?

According to Cleveland Clinic’s website, a total of 24 million people worldwide experience Alzheimer’s symptoms, making it a common disease. Amongst elderly individuals, one-third of people over the age of 85 years are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative condition where the brain’s functions begin to slow down, because the cells are damaged and destroyed over time. This often results in loss of certain brain functions, such as memory loss, loss of language, personality changes, and reasoning. While it is a genetic disease, making the illness hereditary, one may also develop the disease without carrying the gene.  However, those who do have the genetic traits are much more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. The chances of developing the disease may also be based on environmental factors, smoking, traumatic brain injury, and even some health conditions that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this widespread disease, but there are medications that can slow the progression of the disease taking over. However, while Alzheimer’s does damage cells, it also progresses the growth of Amyloid Plaques (Cleveland Clinic). 

Alzheimer's Does Not Only Affect Older People!

While Alzheimer's is mostly shown in older populations, there are also special cases of Alzheimer’s developing in younger people as well. John Hopkins Medicine displays how early onset Alzheimer’s can be developed at the ages of 30-50, which is considerably young compared to the average age Alzheimer’s tends to affect people. While researchers still are not sure about why Alzheimer’s can present itself early, it is tied to family genes and the amyloid plaques that affect brain cells (John Hopkins Medicine). 

What Are Amyloid Plaques?

Amyloid Plaques are natural proteins that occur in the brain, often surrounding the nerve cells, where they tend to be on areas of the brain that are connected to cognitive and memory functions. According to a PAC lab article by Brittany Armstrong, it has been hypothesized that these plaques attack neurons, which is how they slow down brain cell communication, ultimately leading to the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s. However, the reason that these naturally occurring plaques do not cause everyone’s brain functions to slow down is the fact that a normal, healthy brain clears out these plaques on a regular basis. Those that are impacted by Alzheimer’s do not naturally clear out these plaques, which is another reason for symptoms to become more apparent as the plaques fuse together to form tangles, which damage the memory functions of the brain even further (Armstrong, Brittainy). 

What Happens Between Alzheimer's And These Plaques?

When these plaques are allowed to infest into the brain of an individual with Alzheimer’s, the plaques continue to impact the core memory and cognitive functions of the brain. On a cellular level, the thick plaque proteins tangle and block cells from communicating with each other, which increases the neurological effects of Alzheimer’s. When cell communication is suddenly dropped, the brain cells tend to die, as they rely on constant communication to function throughout any part of the brain. While in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, the plaques may not seem to do much that is noticeable, but as the plaques cover more and more cells, the symptoms begin to gain prominence in core functions (National Institute on Aging).

What Are The Treatment Options For These Plaques?

Seeing that these plaques are what accelerate the brain cell damage within Alzheimer’s patients, slowing down the formation of them proves to be a solution to slowing down the effects of Alzheimer’s. Again, there is no cure, but some treatment options consist of medications that slow progressions, clinical trials, medications that manage the symptoms, and even simple lifestyle changes.

Some studies have shown that incorporating consistent brain activity throughout one’s current lifestyle can reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer’s. For instance, solving puzzles daily can help stimulate action to the brain, especially in older individuals. Also, including flavonoids (which are found in yellow/orange vegetables) in one’s diet can foster thinking skills, and overtime may prevent early signs of Alzheimer’s. Of course, maintaining social connections always acts as a way to improve one’s quality of life, reducing stress and keeping brain cells active (Cleveland Clinic). 

There is still much research being done today to treat Alzheimer’s, with more and more discoveries being made about the internal changes that may occur with the disease, and how the plaque spread can be prevented to benefit memory and cognitive health amongst older age demographics. While Alzheimer's may be detrimental, decreasing quality of life, with all being done today, there is hope that old age will not be a fear for future generations, and that diseases like this can be reduced amongst older generations.

Bibliography:

“Amyloid Structure Linked to Different Types of Alzheimer’s Disease.” National Institute on Aging, 2 June 2022, www.nia.nih.gov/news/amyloid-structure-linked-different-types-alzheimers-disease.

Armstrong, Brittany. “Understanding Plaques and Tangles in Alzheimer’s Disease | Kinesiology.” Kinesiology, 24 Feb. 2025, kin.uncg.edu/2025/02/24/plaques-and-tangles/.

Cleveland Clinic. “Alzheimer’s Disease.” Cleveland Clinic, 10 Dec. 2022, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9164-alzheimers-disease.

‌John Hopkins Medicine. “Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2019, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/alzheimers-disease/earlyonset-alzheimer-disease.

Robertson, Sally. “What Are Amyloid Plaques?” News-Medical.net, 2 Jan. 2023, www.news-medical.net/health/What-are-Amyloid-Plaques.aspx.