Alzheimer's: A rising Epidemic

With Alzheimer’s Disease claiming around 83,494 in 2010 (2), this neurodegenerative disease is on the verge on becoming an epidemic. According to the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, in 2012, “the Alzheimer’s Association (AA) estimate[d] that 5.4 million people in the U.S had Alzheimer’s disease… [and] by 2050, the AA estimated that between 11 million and 16 million Americans would have the disease.”  Worldwide, in 2010, it was estimated that there were 35.6 million people with Alzheimer’s (1). In a CNN article, Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the life of Sandy Halperin and his fight against Alzheimer’s. Mr. Halperin unfortunately began showing symptoms when he was around 60 years old. With more and more people developing Alzheimer’s, something must be done, and soon. According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Alzheimer’s is the “only leading cause of death not currently preventable” (3). The talk given by Dr. Morrison explained that the trajectory in Alzheimer’s patients is like a free fall: once the patient’s cognitive abilities begin to decline, their cognitive abilities fall at very steep rates. It is usually the patient’s immediate family (caregiver) that notice the patient’s changes, not the patients themselves.

            Dr. Morrison studies Alzheimer’s Disease, but instead of researching Alzheimer’s patients, he uses Superagers. These Superagers are third aged people who have the cognitive abilities of a 60 year old. We are talking about a 90 year old person having the cognitive resilience of a 60 year old! How amazing! EEG use could focus on how EEG can measure cognitive change as a person ages. In his Talk, Dr. Morrison explained that explicit memory is always poor in aMCI patients (also known as amnestic Mild Cognitive impairment). The executive function, which depends on a complex brain network including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), parietal lobe, and the anterior cingulate, may also predict future decline (4).

All in all, the use of EEG could help detect the probability of a person developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future. The fact that “reduced alpha/theta ratio during rest has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease” gives physicians and researchers hope that someday soon, there will be a cure for Alzheimer’s (4). The number of AD patients is on steep incline. The use of EEG is inexpensive and easy to use. It is better than using other equipment that is more expensive. We just have to view the disease with a different scope, something fresh, and sure enough, the cure for AD will be right in front of us.

(1)https://mcgovern.mit.edu/brain-disorders/by-the-numbers
(2)https://www.alz.org/downloads/facts_figures_2014.pdf

(3) http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/05/health/sanjay-gupta-alzheimers-essay/index.html

(4) Slideshow shown in class