These series of images show the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The left image is a PET scan that shows the normal levels of glucose metabolism (red and yellow) in the brain. As you can see, the levels of glucose metabolism are decreased in the second and third PET scan. The middle image shows the glucose metabolism decreased however the brain is still full. It is only a mild infection at the moment. This is when the patient may begin to forget things, that may seem normal to forget, however could progress into more severe memory loss. Finally, the last image shows the patient’s brain as it has much less glucose metabolism than it did when it was normal. Also, if you noticed, now the scan has a big, black empty hole in the middle of the brain image than when it started. This is because the disease has gotten to the point where the patient isn’t able to remember very much. The development of the brain at this point is very low.
(BY: Samantha Charles)