What is the Difference Between Alzheimer’s and CTE?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) are both progressive brain conditions, but they have distinct differences in their symptoms and causes. Here are the main differences between the two:

1. Causes: Alzheimer's is believed to be caused by a combination of age-related changes, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. In contrast, CTE is believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head and recurrent episodes of brain trauma, often experienced by athletes in contact sports.
2. Symptoms: The initial and most central symptoms in AD involve memory problems. In contrast, the first symptoms of CTE generally involve problems with judgment, reasoning, problem-solving, impulse control, and aggression.
3. Age of onset: The symptoms of CTE generally present earlier (in one's 40s) than those of AD (in one's 60s).
4. Postmortem neuropathological findings: AD and CTE show different neuropathological findings after death. In CTE, tangles are predominantly in the more superficial layers II and III, whereas in AD, tangles are seen in the deeper cortex, namely layers IV and V. Additionally, the abnormal tau protein fold in CTE is different from the tau fold in Alzheimer's disease.
5. Prevalence: Alzheimer's is the most prominent cause of dementia, while CTE is not a prominent cause of dementia.
6. Treatment: Similar to Alzheimer's, there is currently no treatment or cure for CTE.

Despite these differences, both conditions show similar shrinkages in the hippocampus and accumulation of the protein Tau, resulting in memory difficulties, behavior, and mood changes. The same dementia caregiving and communication techniques used for Alzheimer's can be applied in CTE cases.

Comparative Table: Alzheimer’s vs CTE

Here is a table summarizing the differences between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE):

Both Alzheimer's and CTE are progressive brain conditions that cause dementia, with similar shrinkages in the hippocampus and accumulation of the protein tau. However, they have distinct causes, tau tangles locations, prevalence, diagnosis criteria, and treatment options.