STRESS-ADAPTATION FAILURE HYPOTHESIS OF ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

It is proposed that the higher incidence of chronic stress-adaptation failure in patients with Alzheimer's disease is of specific etiopathological significance. Such chronic stress-adaptation failure leads to a vicious circular reaction, namely: intense, stressful stimuli →neocortico-limbic excitation →hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis activation →excessive secretion of neurohormones including cortisol →stimulation of inhibitory glucocorticoid sensitive hippocampal neurons →failure to terminate the HPA axis response →chronic excessive secretion of neurohormones including cortisol →overstimulation degeneration of glucocorticoid sensitive hippocampal inhibitory neurons →progressive cognitive-affective behavioral disorganizational failure which is typical of dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Possibilities of neuropharmacological corrections and neurobehavioral re-education are suggested. © 1990.