Early Onset Alzheimers

What Is Early Onset Alzheimers

If someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease before the age of 65, we speak of Early Onset Alzheimer’s. It is an exceptional appearance of the disease: less than five percent of all Alzheimer’s Disease patients suffer from this type. Probably it is even under two percent.

If we speak of the age under 65, then it is really under that age. This form of Alzheimer’s Disease appears often with people between 40 and 50 years old. Even there are cases known with people between ages 30 and 40.

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Early onset Alzheimer’s disease symptoms look the same as those of late beginning of the Disease. We discuss the difference that appear at a closer look below.

In personal life there is certainly a difference while the person with Early Onset Alzheimer’s often is still active with work, family and social activities when the symptoms begin.

Comparison of Early Onset and Late Start Alzheimers

At a closer look, there are differences between Early-Onset Alzheimer’s and the more common later start of the disease:

• Progression A number of studies indicate that the early beginning type has a faster regression than what is experienced in late-onset Alzheimer’s.
• Other Feelings As said before the person with Early Onset Alzheimer’s mostly still has an active social life and job. Until the diagnosis they usually are physically more fit and active. This often makes them react differently to the diagnosis and disease resulting in them feeling more likely powerless, frustrated and depressed.
• More Microscopic Changes In The Brain Some experts believe that younger brains need to suffer more damage before the person starts to show symptoms. That could be the reason of the younger people tending to have more of the microscopic changes found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. These changes include twisted nerve cell fibers, known as neurofibrillary tangles, and a sticky protein called beta amyloid, which forms structures called plaques.
• Hereditary Disorder In many cases Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease appears to be linked with a genetic defect on chromosome 14. This link is not connected with late starting type of Alzheimer’s.
• Myoclonic Twitches Myoclonus – Muscle Twitching (is brief, involuntary twitching of a muscle or a group of muscles) and also signs of spasms – are more generally seen in the early beginning of Alzheimer’s disease than in late-onset Alzheimer’s Disease.

Early Onset Alzheimers Possibly a Hereditary Disorder

Early Onset Alzheimer’s is also called Early Onset Familial Alzheimer’s Disease (EOFAD), or shortly Familial Alzheimer’s Disease (FAD). It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer’s disease that as we stated before usually strikes earlier in life: between the age of 40 and 50 and exceptionally at an even younger age.

Research has shown that there is a genetic link in an autosomal dominant fashion. That means you only need to inherit the abnormal gene from one parent in order for you to develop the disease. Possibly the inheritance of your mother is more dominant.

Approximately half of the cases of early beginning Alzheimers disease are related to a genetic link.

A significant proportion of early-onset Alzheimer’s is linked to three genes.
These three genes are different from the APOE gene – the gene that can increase your risk of Alzheimer’s in general. But you can have the APOE gene and never develop Alzheimer’s. Conversely, you can have Alzheimer’s and not have the APOE gene.

The genetic path of inheritance is much stronger in genes of patients with the early starting of Alzheimer’s. If you have one of the three genes that are linked to Alzheimer’s, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s before age 65 are significant.

Test For It or Not?

If you know about occurrences in your family of Alzheimer’s at a younger age, should you get tested for it?

Some people benefit from knowing what their chances are, other really don’t. So it is very personal to everybody. We can’t advice you on that. Even if the genes as described above are found in your genetic material it is still possible you never develop the disease. And: do you want to live a life in fear?

At the other hand. If you already have a great fear to be inherited with the disease, you could find some peace in the certainty of not having these genes. And also if they are found, you could organize your life to it and retain the best quality of life possible for you.
Ultimately it is a 100% personal decision and it is up to you.

Dick Harkes was confronted with Alzheimer’s Disease in the spring of 2010 when his father was diagnosed with this awful ailment. From that moment on he collected all kinds of information about Alzheimer’s Disease. In that way he developed himself an expertise on a variety of aspects on the disease. He likes to share this information with as many people as possible.

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If you want to learn more about this subject, please visit Alzheimer’s Diagnosis.

To get a survey on all collected information, you can start at his homepage: All About Alzheimer’s Disease.