Copy of `Cleveland Clinic - Alzheimers glossary`

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Cleveland Clinic - Alzheimers glossary Category: Health and Medicine > Degenerative diseases Date & country: 30/04/2018, USA Words: 247

Microglia
(microglia cells) A type of immune cell found in the brain. Microglia cells are scavengers, engulfing dead cells and other debris. In Alzheimer’s disease, microglia cells are found associated with dying nerve cells and amyloid plaques.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitor
(MAOI) A drug that interferes with the action of monoamine oxidase, slowing the breakdown of certain neurotransmitters; often used in treating depression.

Model system
A system used to study processes that take place in humans or other living organisms.

Mild cognitive impairment
(MCI) A memory problem that is noticeable to others. People with MCI may have other problems in brain function as well, but they are able to get through the day and do what they need to do without major difficulty. Some (not all) people with MCI progress to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

MID
See multi-infarct dementia.

Mini-Mental State Examination
A mental status exam commonly used to measure a person’s basic cognitive skills, such as short-term memory, long-term memory, orientation, writing and language.

Mitochondria
Components found in cells that serve as primary energy sources for cellular functions.

Medicaid
A program sponsored by the federal government and administered by states that is intended to provide health care and health-related services to low-income individuals.

Medicare
A federal health insurance program for people age 65 and older, and for individuals with disabilities.

Metabolism
The complex chemical and physical processes of living organisms that promote growth, sustain life and enable other bodily functions to take place.

Memory
The ability to process information that requires attention, storage and retrieval.

Magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) A test that produces high-quality images of the body’s internal structures without the use of X-rays. MRI uses a large magnet, radio waves and a computer to produce these images.

Lewy body dementia
A dementing illness associated with protein deposits called Lewy bodies in the cortex of the brain.

Living will
A legal document that expresses an individual’s decision on the use of artificial life support systems.

Living trust
A legal document that allows an individual (the grantor or trustor) to create a trust and appoint someone else as trustee (usually a trusted individual or financial institution) to carefully invest and manage his or her assets

Long-term care
A comprehensive range of medical, personal and social services coordinated to meet the physical, social and emotional needs of people who are chronically ill or disabled.

Inflammatory response
The immune system’s normal response to tissue injury or abnormal stimulation caused by a physical, chemical or biological substance.

Layering
Behavior that involves inappropriately changing or layering clothing on top of one another.

Late stage
Designation given when dementia symptoms have progressed to the extent that a person has little capacity for self-care.

Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease
The most common form of Alzheimer’s disease, usually occurring after age 65. Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease affects almost half of all people over the age of 85 and may or may not be hereditary.

Immune system
The body’s natural defense system against infection or disease; a system of cells that protects the body from bacteria, viruses, toxins and other foreign substances.

Instrumental activities of daily living
(IADLs) Complex activities (different from basic ADLs, such as eating, dressing and bathing) important to daily living, such as cooking, writing and driving.

Incontinence
Loss of bladder and/or bowel control.

Hallucination
A sensory experience in which a person can see, hear, smell, taste or feel something that is not there.

Hippocampus
A part of the brain that is important for learning and memory.

Hoarding
Collecting and putting things away in a guarded manner.

Hospice
The philosophy and approach to providing comfort and care at life’s end rather than heroic life-saving measures.

Huntington’s disease
An inherited, degenerative brain disease affecting the body that is characterized by mood changes, intellectual decline and involuntary movement of limbs.

Guardian
An individual appointed by the courts who is authorized to make legal and financial decisions for another person.

Gene
The basic unit of heredity found in all cells. Each gene occupies a certain location on a chromosome (a linear thread in the nucleus of a cell that contains the DNA that transfers genetic information). Genes are self-producing, minuscule structures capable under certain circumstances of giving rise to a new character, also known as a mutation. Hereditary traits are controlled by pairs of genes in the same position on a pair of chromosomes.

Glucose
A simple sugar that is a major energy source for all cellular and bodily functions. Glucose is obtained through the breakdown, or metabolism, of food in the digestive system.

Gene regulation
Control of the rate or manner in which a gene is expressed.

Gene linkage
A group of genes located close together on a chromosome.

Genome
All the genes of an organism.

Geriatrician
A doctor who specializes in the medical care and treatment of older adults.

Genetic susceptibility
The state of being more likely than the average person to develop a disease as the result of genetics.

Genetic testing
Certain tests that are ordered by a physician specializing in genetics so that the presence of genetic abnormalities may be discovered. For patients and families suspected of having an inherited disease, it may be possible to find the mutation causing the disease through genetic testing of blood.

Free-standing, dementia-specific care center
A facility solely dedicated to the care of people with dementia. The facility can sometimes be part of a larger campus.

Functional capabilities
What a person is able to do.

Gait
A person’s manner of walking. People in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease often have a "magnetic gait," which means their ability to lift their feet as they walk has diminished.

Genetic counseling
A process in which a genetic counselor obtains a complete family and personal medical history in order to determine the probable existence of a genetic problem occurring and reoccurring within a family.

Free radicals
Highly reactive molecules capable of causing damage in brain and other tissues. Free radicals are common by-products of normal chemical reactions occurring in cells. The body has several mechanisms to deactivate free radicals.

Frontotemporal dementia
(FTD) Originally called Pick’s disease, this condition is caused by the frontal and temporal anterior lobes of the brain becoming smaller. There are two major types of FTD: one is characterized by problems in speaking and/or understanding speech; the other is characterized by noticeable changes in the way the person acts.

Excitotoxicity
The over-stimulation of nerve cells by nerve impulses. Excitotoxicity often leads to cell damage or cell death.

Executor
The person named in a will who manages the estate of the deceased individual.

Fatty acids
Acids within the body derived from the breakdown of fats.

Familial Alzheimer’s disease
A form of Alzheimer’s disease that runs in families.

Elder law attorney
An attorney who practices in the area of elder law, a specialized area of law focusing on issues that typically affect older adults.

Electrocardiogram
(ECG) A recording of the electrical activity of the heart.

Environment
The physical and interpersonal surroundings that can affect mood and behavior in people with dementia.

Estrogen
A hormone produced by the ovaries and testes. It stimulates the development of secondary sexual characteristics and induces menstruation on women. Estrogen is important for maintaining normal brain function and development of nerve cells.

Electroencephalogram
(EEG) A procedure that measures the amount and type of brain wave activity using electrodes placed on the surface of the scalp.

Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease
An unusual form of Alzheimer’s disease in which individuals are diagnosed with the disease before age 65. Less than 10 percent of all Alzheimer’s disease patients have early-onset. Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease sometimes is associated with mutations in genes located on chromosomes 1, 14 and 21.

Durable power of attorney
A legal document that allows an individual an opportunity to authorize another person, usually a trusted family member or friend, to make legal decisions when the person is no longer able to make legal decisions for himself or herself.

Dysphasia
The inability to find the right word or understand the meaning of a word.

Early stage
The beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease when an individual experiences very mild to moderate cognitive impairments.

Down syndrome
A syndrome that causes slowed growth, abnormal facial features and mental retardation. Down syndrome is caused by an extra copy of all or part of chromosome 21. Individuals with Down syndrome develop Alzheimer’s disease in adulthood.

Drug development
The phase of testing a drug and involving animal and human subjects.

Durable power of attorney for health care
A legal document that allows an individual to appoint another person to make all decisions regarding health care, including choices regarding health care providers, medical treatment and, in later stages of the disease, end-of-life decisions.

Diagnosis
The process by which a doctor determines what disease a patient has by studying the patient’s symptoms and medical history, and analyzing any tests performed (blood tests, urine tests, brain scans, etc.).

DNA
(Deoxyribonucleic acid) The genetic material of each cell.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled study
A research procedure in which neither researchers nor patients know who is receiving the experimental substances or treatment and who is receiving a placebo.

Deficits
Physical and/or cognitive skills or abilities that a person has lost, has difficulty with, or can no longer perform because of his or her dementia.

Delusion
A false idea that is firmly believed and strongly maintained in spite of proof or evidence to the contrary.

Differential diagnosis
The clinical evaluation of possible causes of dementia to rule out all other factors before settling on Alzheimer’s disease as a diagnosis.

Disorientation
A cognitive disability in which the senses of time, direction and recognition become difficult to distinguish.

Dementia
The loss of mental functions—such as thinking, memory and reasoning—severely enough to interfere with a person’s daily functioning. Dementia is not a disease itself, but rather a group of symptoms that may accompany certain disease or conditions. Symptoms also may include changes in personality, mood and behavior. Dementia is irreversible when caused by disease or injury, but may be reversible when caused by drugs, alcohol, hormone or vitamin imbalances, or depression. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.

Dementia-specific
Services that are provided specifically for people with dementia.

Dementia-capable
Skilled in working with people with dementia and their caregivers, knowledgeable about the kinds of services that may help them, and aware of which agencies and individuals provide such services.

Dendrites
Branched extensions of the nerve cell body that receive signals from other nerve cells. Each nerve cell usually has many dendrites.

Developmental disability
Any mental or physical impairment that occurs before age 22, impedes normal growth and development, and which continues into old age.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
A rare disorder caused by prions that typically leads to rapid decline in memory and cognition. Most people with this disease die within one year of onset.

CT scan
See computed axial tomography.

Cueing
The process of providing cues, prompts, hints and other meaningful information, direction or instruction—such as adding labels to drawers—to aid a person who is experiencing memory loss.

Depression
A clinical mood disorder that prevents a person from leading a normal life. Types of depression include: major depression, bipolar depression, chronic low-grade depression (dysthymia) and seasonal depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD).

Combativeness
Incidents of aggression.

Co-existing illness
A medical condition that exists simultaneously with another, such as arthritis and dementia.

Cognitive abilities
Mental abilities, such as judgment, memory, learning, comprehension and reasoning.

Cognitive symptoms
In Alzheimer’s disease, the symptoms that relate to loss of thought processes, such as learning, comprehension, memory, reasoning and judgment.

Competence
A person’s ability to make informed choices.

Computed axial tomography
(CAT or CT scan) A technique in which multiple X-rays of the body are taken from different angles in a very short period of time. These images are collected by a computer to give a series of cross-sectional "slices" of the body. In diagnosing dementia, CT scans can reveal tumors and small strokes in the brain.

Controls
A group of people or animals in a research trial that does not receive a treatment or other intervention or that is not affected by the disease being studied. This group is used as a standard to compare any changes in a group that receives treatment or has the disease. In Alzheimer’s research, patients often are compared with controls of the same age (age-matched) to rule out the effects of age on study results.

Conservator
In some states, the guardian who managers an individual’s assets.

Clinical psychologist
See psychologist.

Cortical dementia
Dementia associated with impairment of the part of the brain that affects memory, attention, reasoning and abstract thinking, and arising from disease of the cerebral cortex.

Continuum of care
Care services available to assist individuals throughout the course of a disease.

Chest X-ray
(CXR, chest film) Using a very small amount of radiation to produce an image of the structures of the chest (heart, lungs and bones) on film.

Choline
A brain transmitter that allows cells to communicate with each other.

Clinical trial
An organized research program conducted with patients to evaluate a new medical treatment, drug or device.

Clinical social worker
An individual who has specialized training in identifying and accessing community resources—such as adult daycare, home care or nursing home services—as well as in individual and group counseling.

Choline acetyltransferase
(CAT) An enzyme that controls the production of acetylcholine. CAT is depleted in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.

Cholinesterase
An enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine into active parts that can be recycled. This enzyme is inhibited by drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, such as donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine.

Cholinergic system
The system of nerve cells that uses acetylcholine as its neurotransmitter and is damaged in the brains of individual’s with Alzheimer’s disease.

Chromosome
An X-shaped structure inside the cell nucleus made up of tightly coiled strands of genes. Each chromosome is numbered (in humans, 1-46). Genes on chromosome 1, 14, 19 and 21 are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Cell membrane
The outer boundary of the cell. The cell membrane helps control what substances enter or exit the cell.

Cell culture
Cells grown in a test tube or other laboratory device for experimental purposes.

Cell body
In nerve cells, the central portion from which axons and dendrites sprout. The cell body controls the life-sustaining functions of a nerve cell.

Cell
The fundamental unit of all organisms; the smallest structural unit capable of independent functioning.

Central nervous system
(CNS) One of the two major divisions—with the peripheral nervous system—of the nervous system. Composed of the brain and spinal cord, the CNS is the control network for the entire body.

Cerebrospinal fluid
(CSF) The fluid that fills the areas surrounding the brain and spinal cord.