Alzheimer's is a horrible disease that takes the lives of many people. Every seventy-two seconds someone around the world is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. It is a form of dementia that slowly takes away the most basic memories up to the memories of children, weddings and even the saddest ones such as family death. People with Alzheimer's have difficulty remembering small details, and the disease begins with the loss of short-term memory function. This is because acetylcholine levels are known to drop by up to ninety percent starting in the entorhinal cortex and moving into the hippocampus. For this reason, one of the first signs of Alzheimer's is the loss or decrease in the sense of smell, hence entorhinal. Cells in the hippocampus called hippocampal cells lose their connection and the result of this is total loss of short-term memory. Neurons resting in the cerebral cortex then begin to degenerate, which in turn leads to difficulties with speech and judgment function. This also causes a decrease in appetite and therefore loss of control over bowel movements. The disease will progress and many will end up not even recognizing their children, much less being able to eat, bathe or do simple tasks that they normally wouldn't even have to think about. Lack of acetylcholine is the main cause of memory loss. In most people, during the aging process, acetylcholine degenerates over time at a normal rate. In people with Alzheimer's, acetylcholine degenerates at more than double the rate compared to people without this disease. Acetylcholine is an important neurotransmitter in the brain that allows the communication of information from a nerve cell to a… middle of paper… the other choline salt. Usually 500-2000 mg per day can be taken in three divided doses. Other supplements can also increase acetylcholine levels without increasing choline. Manganese taken 1-5 mg daily or huperizine A is an herb that contains a cholinesterase inhibitor. Works Cited http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s1/chapter11.html#storage http://www.uccs.edu/biology/ alzheimers-disease.html http://www.ehow.com/about_6385188_happens- ach-may-cause-alzheimer_s_.html http://www.dementiatoday.com/biochemistry-of-alzheimers-disease/ http://web. williams.edu/imput/synapse/pages/IA5.html http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/101/motm.do?momID=54 http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/ news_article.php?newsID=137 http://www.embo.org/news/research-news/research-news-2013/alzheimer-s-disease-protein-controls-movement-in-mice http://www. progressivehealth.com/cognitive-function-acetylcholine.htm