As I explained in a previous article, Alzheimer’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disease that produces the destruction of neurons before the expected time. These are the neurons that make us have memory, be able to recognize people and things and have a fluent language. Alzheimer’s disease generally appears later in life.
Causes of Alzheimer’s disease
The exact causes of Alzheimer’s disease are not yet known, but there is a very important genetic component. If a person has parents or siblings who suffer from Alzheimer’s, with that first line of kinship, there is a higher risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s. That risk is four times higher.
This risk is four times higher. If both parents have Alzheimer’s, the risk of Alzheimer’s in their children is 40 times higher than in a person who does not have parents with Alzheimer’s. This is an important risk factor. This is an important risk factor.
And, other triggers that have been observed are poorly controlled arterial hypertension and diabetes. Both are risk factors for the disease, because a vascular problem is added.
How to slow down Alzheimer’s Disease
The process can be slowed down during the first years. There are specific drugs that are used and that have given very good results, which even make patients improve during the first year. After that, they slow down the process, although beyond 5 years of evolution it is debatable.
It is very important for cognitive stimulation to do crossword puzzles, keep the mind active, discuss topics, play chess, read… Alzheimer patients must work on their memory -cognition-, they must keep it active as much as possible.
Curiously, it has been seen that the most educated people do not have less Alzheimer’s disease, but that the symptoms become more incapacitating later than people who do not have this cultural level.
A healthy diet
It has not been proven that there are foods that prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s, although it has been seen that certain metals, if they are very high, such as aluminum or copper, can in times of toxicity, give symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s in certain people, but as such, there is no food that has been shown to prevent the onset of the disease.
Having a good diet, a balanced diet, not abusing fats, not abusing salt, helps the memory. Nuts are very healthy although they are high in calories, so you have to compensate with the rest of the food. In other words, the best advice on food to maintain a healthy memory is to follow a very healthy diet.
Over-medication should be avoided. In the case of Vitamin B12, for example, which is very good for the brain and nerves, it is preferable to take a portion of mussels with a glass of beer than to take a pill. That way, we will get the same vitamin.
In summary, it is necessary to eat healthily to avoid Arterial Hypertension and Diabetes. Make a life of exercise, which cognitively stimulates the subject and keep the mind active. In other words, less television and more books.
Clinical pictures with symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s disease
It is necessary to reassure the patient who lives with the anxiety that he/she believes he/she has Alzheimer’s disease when he/she does not have it. The most frequent, especially when they are young people around 50 years of age, is anxiety.
There are cases of anxiety due to the stress of the life we lead and due to life circumstances, in which when a person is very nervous, he/she is unable to concentrate on what he/she is doing, and therefore forgets what he/she is doing.
If I now have a family problem, I am unemployed, I have economic problems, that is to say, I have my mind in forty places at the same time, I am going to forget what I have spoken on the phone because I am not concentrated, I have not paid attention. This picture of anguish and anxiety is the most frequent thing that is confused with Alzheimer’s disease.
When the patient is older, a much deeper neurological analysis should be done because there may be treatable and curable pathologies that can be mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease. The most common of these is overmedication. Many medications can cause Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, especially in older people. In addition to other pathologies that, with a neurological intervention, the possibility of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease would be ruled out.