TheVisualMD Delivers A Never Before Seen View Of Alzheimer's Disease

NEW YORK, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- theVisualMD, www.thevisualmd.com, the world's leading health visualization resource announces the release of its latest health initiative on Alzheimer's disease. theVisualMD creates educational health content using human data from a variety of medical scans – magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT) ultrasound, and confocal laser scans. The data is collected, digitized, and recompiled using volume-visualization software and utilized to detail health stories that have been developed with leading researchers and key opinion leaders in their respective fields.  "There is a great degree of confusion in the general public about the causes of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and age-related memory problems," said Rudy Tanzi, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease.  "This comprehensive educational initiative will go a long way to demystify these issues."

The cornerstone of the initiative is a unique digital e-booklet, titled What is Alzheimer's Disease? and begins with an admiring portrait of the marvel of the brain and the creation of the synaptic connections that constitute our identity. These connections form from before birth through adulthood, and are key to the creation of memory. theVisualMD learning module continues by describing what is known about the steps in the process of short- and long-term memory as it relates to brain function, and the structure of the areas involved, with attention to the types and anatomy of neurons that register and "hold" our memories. With brain volume depletion at a macroscopic level and cell architecture changes at the microscopic level (which are both visually presented in this e-booklet), Alzheimer's disease is distinguishable from normal aging.

This e-booklet delves into amyloid protein creation and clearance (or difficulties with clearance that are thought to play an underlying role in Alzheimer's), the damage to blood vessels caused by amyloid, and the possible (or potential) role played by tau proteins within neurons, which all contribute to neurological decline using extraordinary medical images that have never been seen before. The interactive module concludes with a look at the clinical stages of Alzheimer's disease and the demographic, genetic, and behavioral risk factors for developing the disease. With increased scientific understanding of the Alzheimer's disease continuum, early identification of cognitive impairment is of growing importance. Disease risk factors are also detailed in the final chapters of the e-booklet.