Neurodegenerative Disorder
Introduction
Neurodegenerative disorders refer to debilitating health care complications that occur because of slow degeneration of nerves cells. Neurodegeneration process is the progressive deterioration of structure and functionality of neurons in human body systems (Kovacs, 2016, 189). Ideally, neurodegenerative disorders represent the long-standing challenges in the field of basic science and clinical medicine. This is because of the persistence showed by the illnesses despite the unending attempts to adopt solutions to mitigate their health effects and severity on patients. The diseases affect the neurons in the human brain. As a result, it causes instabilities in the brain and spinal cord affecting the general nerve system.
Symptoms of Neurogenerative Diseases
The illnesses affect the brain, and the spinal and hence the main symptoms involve injuries in the brain and the spine. These include short-term symptoms that comprise of frequent vomiting, speech difficulty, significant memory loss, concentration problems. The long-term symptoms include hypertension, pupil dilation, irregular breathing rates, and low heart beating rates
The common neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer's disease, Tay-Sachs disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia diseases, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Causes of Neurodegenerative Diseases
The causes of neurodegenerative illnesses vary according to the type of disease. For instance:
Genetics. Most of the neurodegenerative complications occur because of deficiencies in genetic mutations in human and animal bodies. In particular, the complication manifest in locations with different unrelated genes. The common feature of all mutated genes is reflected in the repeat manifestation of the CAG trinucleotide and polyQ tract (Kovacs, 2016, 189). The common degenerative diseases caused by genetic mutations include the Huntington's disease and spinocerebellar ataxia.
Age. Aging characteristics comprise of another risk factor for neurodegenerative illnesses. The functionality of the nervous system decreases with increased age years. As a result, the increase in the burden of these diseases leads to the emergence of Alzheimer's as well as Parkinsonism diseases. Statistically, the United States national records show that over 50% of the people aged above 85 years exhibits at least one the common symptoms of the age-related neurodegenerative diseases (Kovacs, 2016, 189). This is mainly because age results from a deterioration in neuronal activity as well as changes in neurotransmitters causing motor impairments.
Protein Misfolding and Deposition. Protein misprocessing or misfolding results in neurodegenerative illnesses. This is because misprocessing leads to over accumulation of a single or multiple types of proteins in the central nervous system of humans and animals (Kovacs 2016, p.189). This leads to the formation of prions proteins that are infectious proteins causing neurodegenerative diseases. The common diseases caused by protein misfolding include Huntington's disease, spinocerebellar ataxia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
Alzheimer's Disease and Oxidative Stress
Alzheimer's disease refers to an irreversible, progressive, degenerative brain disorder that affects both the neurons and the nervous system of the brain (Huang, Zhang, & Chen 2016, p. 520). Alzheimer's disease affects the memory status of the patient. Ideally, the illness mostly manifests itself among aged people. The main symptoms of the illness comprise of memory loss, lower heart rates, and heart attacks. This is because proper functioning of the brain cells requires the coordinated supply of energy, effective removal of waste, and smooth communication neurons in the brain cells.
As a result, it enables the different cells in the brain to determine various functions which include smell detection, hearing capabilities, and enhanced vision. However, patients suffering from the illness have difficulties in enjoying these capabilities because the illness affects the coordination in the functioning of the brain cells. Consequently, this results in memory loss as well as other brain effects especially for the elderly patients because of high worn out levels in the nervous systems.
The major cause of the illness is the oxidative stress. Oxidative stress refers to the imbalances existing between the amounts of produced reactive oxygen particles (free radicals) and the appropriate antioxidant defenses (Huang, Zhang, & Chen 2016, p. 521). The reactive oxygen particles comprise of molecules which are made up of unpaired electrons. As a result, the unpaired characteristic enhances the reactivity of these molecules when they come in contact with others.
On the other hand, Antioxidants are the substances used to counteract the neurological effects that the reactive oxygen molecules cause in the brain of humans and animals (Huang, Zhang & Chen 2016, pg.522). They include Carotenoids, vitamins, and beta-carotene. Ideally, some antioxidants may result in harmful side effects despite their critical roles in mitigating the neurological effects of oxidative stress. Therefore, the paper will examine the effectiveness of carotenoids lycopene and zeaxanthin as antioxidants in controlling the oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease patients.
Hypothesis
Carotenoids lycopene and zeaxanthin have a significant effect on the control of oxidative stress.
Carotenoid Lycopene and Oxidative Stress Control
Lycopene refers to the coloration in specific fruits and vegetables. For example, the pigment is found in larger concentration among tomatoes, grapefruits, and watermelons. The pigment contains high levels of unsaturated carotenoid that provides it with strong antioxidant effects (Gammone, Riccioni, & D'Orazio 2015, pg. 59). As a result, increased consumption of carotenoid lycopene enhances the bioactivities in the body and therefore slowing down the rate of aging. Consequently, the increase in intake of lycopene significantly lowers the oxidative stress. Furthermore, the antiatherogenic effect of carotenoid lycopene is that it comprises of an anti-inflammatory inhibition for oxidative stress effects as well as improved lipid homeostasis.
On the other hand, use of carotenoid lycopene as an oxidant to mitigate oxidative stress in Alzheimatic patients has the significant effect of reducing vascular oxidative stress, inflammation as well as the close association between monocytes and endothelial cells (Gammone, Riccioni, & D'Orazio 2015, pg. 59). Moreover, carotenoid lycopene help maintains significant positive amounts of NO and steady vasodilatation. In particular, this regulates the severity of atherosclerosis and hence mitigating the effects of Alzheimer's disease.
Zeaxanthin and Oxidative Stress in Alzheimer's Disease
This is a lutein-like oxygenated pro-vitamin; it is common in most carotenoid natal alcohols sources including corn, bell peppers, wolfberries and green vegetables like kales, spinach, and broccoli. Zeaxanthin oxidant protects the vision defects caused by oxidative stress on Alzheimatic patients. The effects affect the retina in the eye causing disturbances in central vision capabilities. In particular,arge intake of zeaxanthin oxidants by patients who have Alzheimer's disease increases the concentration of the oxidant in the central macula part of the eye (Gammone, Riccioni, & D'Orazio 2015, pg. 59). Ideally, the xanthophylls-binding protein in the macula provides an explanation of the differentiated rates of carotenoids accumulations in people.
Finally, the increase in intake of zeaxanthin antioxidants is associated with high increased consumption of muscular pigment density (Gammone, Riccioni, & D'Orazio 2015, pg. 59). Consequently, intake of large portions of muscular pigment density leads to decreased muscular degeneration. These anti-oxidative effects cause protection of the retina in the eye as well as the macular pigment from the effects caused by damaging blue light because of increased oxidative stress. Lastly, zeaxanthin has direct effects on reactive oxygen species. For instance, it inhibits the negative oxidation effects on lipids, proteins, and DNA by maintaining a balanced regulation of antioxidants in the cellular systems in human and animal bodies (Gammone, Riccioni, & D'Orazio 2015, pg. 59). As a result, it implies the significant effect that zeaxanthin has on the control of oxidative stress in Alzheimatic patients.
Reference List
Gammone, M.A., Riccioni, G. and D'Orazio, N., 2015. Carotenoids: potential allies of cardiovascular health?. Food & nutrition research, 59.
Huang, W.J., Zhang, X. and Chen, W.W., 2016. The role of oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease (Review). Biomedical reports, 4(5), pp.519-522.
Kovacs, G.G., 2016. Molecular pathological classification of neurodegenerative diseases: Turning towards precision medicine. International journal of molecular sciences, 17(2), p.189.
