ALZHEIMER's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia is accompanied by progressive memory loss and other cognitive functions. The conditionis estimated to affect approximately 36 million people, worldwide. AD is characterized by the presence of extracellular amyloid b (Ab) deposits, intracellular neurofibrillary tanglesand senile plaques in the cortex, hippocampus, basal forebrain and amygdale. Neurofibrillary tangles formation is the result of intracellular fibrillar aggregation of the microtubule-associated protein tau that is hyperphosphorylated and oxidized. Senile plaques consist of insoluble fibrillar Ab. It is established that Ab is formed after sequential cleavage of amyloid precursor protein and secreted to the extracellular space. It also inhibits hippocampal long-term potentiation and disrupts the synaptic plasticity. In addition, Ab accumulation induces an elevation in levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in neurons, leading to apoptotic neuronal death in rats and mice. Studies showed that the accumulation of Ab in brain plays an important role in the pathophysiology of AD and a close correlation exits between Ab procedure and the neurodegeneration process of AD. There exists evidence suggesting that memory impairment in AD begins with changes in hippocampal synaptic functions and then gradually progresses to neurodegeneration and neuronal loss in these patients.

Background: One of the most important challenges in today's societies is the increase of ALZHEIMER patients. Caring these people is also an important matter for health system. Care givers perform most of their caring responsibilities and face with many problems to meet their needs in terms of their cognitive and behavioral problems.Purpose: This descriptive study was conducted to determine the problems of main caregivers of ALZHEIMER patients referring to ALZHEIMER Association in Tehran.Methods: 100 main caregivers were selected by census. Data collection tool was a questionnaire validated by content validity. Its reliability was measured by internal consistency (d = 0.96) and test-retest (d=0.96) methods.Findings: Findings of the study showed that mean ages of caregivers and patients were 58 and 81.53 respectively. 66% of caregivers were female and 34% were male.Mean duration of the disease was 4.2 years (SD = 2.7). The average hour of providing care was 10.84. Most of the caregivers complained of sleep problems (63%), fatigue (63%) and severe burden (68%). Most of them expressed communication problems with patients (74%), communication problems with families (65%), house keeping problems (60%), social relationship problems (64%), educational problems (43.3%) and occupational problems (55.3%).Regarding economical problems, most of them, (55%) had them moderately.Conclusion: With respect to the increase of ALZHEIMER patients in our society, health workers should devise programs to reduce care givers' problems for preventing bum out and decreasing burden of caregivers.

Background and Objectives: ALZHEIMER disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder manifested by memory lost and other cognitive dysfunctions. Its neuropathological characteristics include presence of neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. It has been hypothesized that the stored metals might be the key to the damage. One of these suspected elements is iron. This study aimed at evaluating the serum ferrous level in a group of patients with AD. Materials and Methods: In a one year case-control study, a group of patients with definite diagnosis of ALZHEIMER disease were evaluated by Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) for their disease severity, the serum ferrous level also has been measured by atomic absorption method in each individuals. We also measure the serum ferrous level in a group of controls. The serum ferrous level was compared between the case and the control groups, and also its relation with disease severity was assessed. Results: Fifty patients, (26.24 M / F mean age of 71.34±6.69) and 50 healthy persons, (17.33 M / F mean age of 68.96±6.39).The serum ferrous level was 0.41±0.16 ppm and 0.46±0.20 ppm, respectively (P=0.229). There was no significant correlation between the serum ferrous level and the severity of ALZHEIMER disease (r=0.186, P=0.195). Conclusion: The current study showed that there is no significant difference between patients with ALZHEIMER disease and healthy controls in terms of the serum ferrous level.