Alzheimer's Disease Overview

Loss of neurons and synapses in the brain, leading to memory loss, cognitive decline, and functional impairment. It shows up as olfactory deficits, apathy, and depression.

Neurofibrillary tangles (tau protein clumps) and amyloid plaques (protein buildup).

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) misfolds, creating amyloid beta plaques that disrupt brain function.

Unhealthy lifestyle (diet, alcohol, smoking), obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, vascular problems, age, genetics, and traumatic brain injury contribute to the risk.

Alzheimer's accounts for a significant portion (60-80%) of dementia cases; risk increases with age, especially affecting individuals over 85.

Exercise can promote overall health, delay the start of dementia, reduce risk, protect cognitive function, and stimulate growth factors in specific brain areas (hippocampus).

Moderate intensity walking 3 times per week, increasing over 15 minutes after 6 months for improved cognitive function.

Exercise and other management strategies can improve memory, information processing, and executive function in people with Alzheimer's.

Projected number of Americans with Alzheimer's Disease by 2050: 115.4 million.

Alzheimer's affects the basal forebrain, cortex, and limbic system.

Parkinson's Disease targets dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and cortex.

Parkinson's F.I.T.T. prescription includes structured, motor fitness, social engagement, and music therapy.

Early Parkinson's symptoms include bradykinesia, tremor, rigidity, and gait disturbances. Late symptoms include swallowing difficulties and postural instability.

Non-motor symptoms include mood disorders, hallucinations, sleep problems, pain, fatigue, decreased independence, and potential blood pressure/weight changes.

Parkinson's can affect various cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, processing speed, language, and even personality.

Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting approximately 1/1000 people, and 1% of individuals over 60.

Exercise improves mobility, flexibility, emotional well-being, balance, gait, quality of life (QoL), reduces fall risk, and promotes neurogenesis, angiogenesis, synaptogenesis, and increased brain matter (hippocampus, frontal region, corpus callosum).

Parkinson's Disease can be treated with motor methods like levodopa, dopamine agonists, anticholinergics, deep brain stimulation, and stereotactic lesioning. Non-motor treatments include cholinesterase inhibitors, SSRIs/SNRIs, melatonin, klonopin, and managing urinary issues and constipation.

A traumatic brain injury from a blow to the head, face, neck, or body; symptoms can appear in up to 24 hours, may or may not involve loss of consciousness, and does not show visual abnormalities on standard imaging.

Certain demographics, like females, and countries with prevalent walking and moped transport, contribute to greater risk of sports-related concussions.

Forces affecting the brain trigger a cascade, involving neuronal stretches, glutamate release, NMDA receptor activation, ion imbalances, increased glucose demand, and reduced blood flow (50% reduction for 7-10 days).

A comprehensive assessment of a concussion involves pre-injury evaluation, neurocognitive testing, balance evaluation, cranial nerve assessment, symptom tracking, and sleep analysis.

Recovery time from concussion is similar, with no significant differences in time between adolescent and adult athletes given identical resources and programs.

Exercise aids in improving motor functions like balance, flexibility, strength and mobility in Parkinson's patients. It also promotes wellness by enhancing quality of life, cognitive function, executive skills, mood, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health, sleep, neuroplasticity, neurotrophic factors, blood flow, and immune system.

A series of stages for athletes to safely return to play after a concussion, progressing from limited activity to full contact.

Headache, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, and photophobia (sensitivity to light) are common concussion symptoms.

Neurodegenerative condition characterized by abnormal tau protein buildup in the brain, diagnosed post-mortem.

CHD affects approximately 1 in 110 children and is prevalent in adults as well.

Genetic variations, fetal blood flow issues, infections like viruses, medication, and even early-life medical procedures are some of the known risk factors for CHD.

Children and adults with CHD or heart failure (HF) might experience delayed development, behavioral difficulties, academic struggles, decreased quality of life, and higher risk of depression/anxiety.

A protocol designed for prescribing exercise after a concussion.

A valid test needs high inter-rater (between testers), test-retest reliability (consistent results over time), and both sensitivity (identifying those actually affected) and specificity (not misidentifying unaffected individuals)

A prescription for children with congenital heart defects (CHD) that considers the severity of the condition. It typically involves moderate-intensity exercise for 20 minutes, 3 times a week, at a minimum heart rate of 150 bpm.

Exercise improves exercise capacity, BMI, heart function, BNP levels, quality of life (QOL), reduces depression, and enhances self-efficacy in individuals with congenital heart defects (CHD) and heart failure (HF). Improves physiological measures such as cardiac output, blood pressure, and pulmonary artery pressure.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, affecting approximately 1 in 8 women. The risk increases with age.

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (chemo brain), characterized by a significant decline (1-2 standard deviations) from baseline cognitive function, impacting various areas like memory, learning, and processing speed, commonly accompanied by depression, anxiety, and fatigue.

Chemotherapy is non-selective and harms healthy cells, disrupting DNA, RNA, and protein formation, which weakens the immune system and causes cognitive impairment, termed "chemo brain".

Before chemotherapy, exercise prescriptions focus on building strength and endurance to improve tolerance to the treatments.

During chemotherapy, exercise prescriptions aim to maintain physical and mental health, reduce side effects, enhance treatment efficacy, and improve mental well-being.

Post-chemotherapy, exercise prescriptions focus on rebuilding strength, managing prolonged side effects, reducing recurrence risks, and improving quality of life (QOL).