Automatic Detection of Associatons Among Terms Related to Alzheimer's Disease from Medline Abstracts

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, age-related, degenerative brain disorder, which is one of the most serious diseases in old people. The patients' memory is lost and their personality and behavior are changed gradually; furthermore, this process is irreversible until the patients die [1]. Alzheimer's disease first attacks the entorhinal cortex; then to the hippocampus, which help to control short-term memory; then to other regions, especially the cerebral cortex, which is very important in using language and reasoning [1 , 2]. After its attack, the neurons degenerate and lose synapses and eventually die [1 , 2]. According to the age of having this disease, Alzheimer's disease can be divided to early-onset (usually at age 30 to 60) and late-onset (at age of 65 or older) [1]. About 5% to 10% of Alzheimer's disease cases are early onset [1 ]. Another way to describe Alzheimer's disease is according to the inheritance pattern. In this way, Alzheimer's disease also can be divided to: sporadic Alzheimer's disease, which has no certain inheritance pattern; and familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD), which has certain inheritance pattern [1]. All FAD are early onset [1 ]. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive disease and the progression of symptoms can be divided into mild, moderate and severe phases [2, 3]. The symptoms of mild Alzheimer's disease include loss of memory, disorientation, and difficulty of performing routine tasks. [2]. Patients in this phase can live independently [3]. The moderate symptoms include having great difficulty in daily living, wandering, personality changes, agitation and anxiety [2]. Patients in this phase should be cared by other people. People in severe phase lose all communication functions, almost cannot think, and need total care [2].