Alzheimer's in young people: causes, symptoms and treatment

The Alzheimer disease, a neurodegenerative disorder devastating the lives of those who suffer from it and those around them, manifests itself very frequently in old age. However, it's not always like that. Although it is not so frequent, can appear before age 65 and even during early adulthood. In fact, the first presentation of the disease is described in the case of a 55-year-old woman.

There are some reasons to believe that Alzheimer's disease that occurs in old age and that which manifests during adulthood, although they share many characteristics, they could actually be variants of the same entity clinic. In what form does this disease appear and how can we detect it in time, then?

Characteristics of Alzheimer's disease

The objective of the article is not to make an exhaustive definition of the classic presentation of Alzheimer's, but it is it is necessary to refresh the memory and remember which are the most characteristic symptoms of the disease of Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's in old age

The most common clinical presentation is episodic memory loss, which is accompanied by progressive deterioration of other cognitive domains such as voluntary movements or the ability to produce and understand language. This definition is not rigid, since many other cases present a focal alteration of only one of the domains without memory impairment. For this reason, when we talk about Alzheimer's disease we are talking about a very heterogeneous set of presentations that all have the same cause.

At the brain level, we observe the formation of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Plaques are nothing more than deposits of peptides that form with aging. It is common to have these plaques even in healthy adults, but we found a greater number of them in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Neurofibrillary tangles, on the other hand, are hyperphosphorized conglomerates of tau protein. Her presence in her brain is also predictive of neurocognitive disorder.

Alzheimer's in young adulthood

About 4% of Alzheimer's patients are diagnosed before the age of 65. The most frequent form of appearance of Alzheimer's in young age is not through memory loss, but through non-amnesic syndromes. For example, visuospatial dysfunctions, apraxia, anomias, etc. Thus, we will find that executive, visuospatial and motor functions are usually affected in these patients, confusing the diagnosis with other disorders.

At the brain level, like its older analogues, these patients also have a higher number of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. However, her location is different. In young adults who develop Alzheimer's disease, the hippocampus is preserved and free from involvement by these deposits. Remember that the hippocampus is a cardinal point in the memory acquisition and recall. This finding explains to a large extent the difference in the presentations, why in the elderly yes memory is affected from the beginning and why in young people with Alzheimer's this is infrequent.

Neuropathology shows that there is a higher density and a more diffuse distribution of the typical signs of Alzheimer's. Structural neuroimaging studies show that the cortex is more affected than in elderly patients and also more diffusely, especially affecting the neocortex.

Taking all this evidence into account, it is possible to affirm that although both manifestations fall under the label of Alzheimer's disease because meet the same diagnostic criteria, the pathological processes suffered by young people are different from those found in patients greater. Lesions are distributed differently, so we could be talking about two variants of the same disease, not just a criterion of temporality.

Causes of Alzheimer's in young people

In Alzheimer's disease that occurs in old age, the disease occurs due to the formation of natural deposits. The older the patient, the more likely they are to have so many deposits of waste that their cognitive abilities begin to decline. Likewise, the lifestyle of each one may or may not protect the formation of these deposits present in the disease.

However, in normal young patients there is no time for these deposits to form. No normal process justifies such a density and pathological distribution in the brain. This is why many of the Alzheimer's cases that begin at an early age occur due to mutations in genes that allow protein deposits to build up and plaques to form senile.

Instances of Alzheimer's due to genetically transmitted mutations are rare. It is believed that most cases occur by acquisition, or because the genes involved do not do their job optimally. It seems more the product of a cluster of genetic factors and lifestyles that produce oxidative stress than of a specific gene or marker. Naturally, those who come from families with a strong history of Alzheimer's at a young age can, if they wish, undergo a test where a marker of the presence of said genetic mutation or not can be found and know if they will develop the disease.

Treatment and prognosis

The treatment of Alzheimer's in young people is the same as that prescribed to the elderly, with the advantage that they can perform more therapeutic activities than the latter. It is very important to maintain activities of daily living as long as possible and not stop doing them because of having been diagnosed. Autonomy and activities allow the individual to retain their cognitive abilities for much longer and the decline is more gradual.

Cognitive stimulation through activities that use brain functions is a good protector against disease progression. It is impossible to get rid of or stop it, so the goal is to preserve the greatest possible autonomy and quality of life for the longest period of time. It might be a good idea to make plans about how to manage your life later when you start to depend more on others and are unable to deal with issues like the economy itself, the legal procedures, the will or the will towards certain medical procedures to which one more could be subjected go ahead.

The prognosis of Alzheimer's in early life is unfavorable. These people deteriorate more quickly than the elderly and the cognitive decline is more marked and evident. However, it is important to always focus on the skills that the patient retains and that they can still take advantage of and use for as long as possible.