Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disease that generally affects people over the age of 60. It is estimated that more than 50 million people are affected by dementia and that two out of three cases are caused by Alzheimer’s disease. The first symptoms are usually mild memory problems that gradually worsen. Sometimes, as an initial symptom, decreased sense of smell may appear.
As the disease progresses, the damage usually involves other brain functions such as language or reasoning. In more advanced stages of Alzheimer’s the brain damage becomes so extensive that it can prevent a person from being able to carry out the simplest tasks.
What causes it?
The disease develops due to a series of events occurring in the brain over a long period of time that are not yet fully understood. The cause is thought to be complex and depends on genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Some publications support that prolonged and intense stress would have a negative effect on the brain and may cause the first symptoms to appear earlier.
There is still no definitive formula for a cure, but can it be helped to prevent the rapid development of the disease?
Alzheimer’s is a complex disease and there is currently no cure. But we do have several treatments that can help people maintain their brain function, manage behavioral symptoms, and slow, delay or prevent the disease, which is why it is important to have an early diagnosis and medical follow-up with a neurologist.
It is known, for example, that lifestyle can modify the course of the disease and delay the onset of its symptoms. There is evidence that regular physical exercise, a Mediterranean diet or leisure activities that involve stimulating challenges are protective factors against the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In relation to the effect of stress, there is growing evidence that certain meditation practices such as mindfulness could help the brain to function better.
With the passage of time our body ages and our brain is no exception. There are morphological and neuroanatomical changes that cause some of our memory systems to not function as efficiently as we age, but this is not a disease. In the case of the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, memory difficulties will always be greater than the usual age-related ones.
Signs of possible disease development can be for example:
- Forgetting things much more frequently than usual.
- Forgetting how to do perfectly familiar activities.
- Having a lot of difficulty learning new things.
- Repeating phrases in conversations or asking the same question several times.
- Difficulty in knowing what day it is, or disorientation in familiar places, etc.
That is, when there is a change in our memory that makes us start to make frequent small mistakes in our daily life that we did not make before.
If you are concerned about the functioning of your memory, see a neurologist. Currently there are techniques to evaluate the functioning of the different memory systems that make it possible to establish whether its functioning is within normality or suffers some alteration in comparison with subjects of the same age.
What changes does it cause in the behavior of the person suffering from it?
Alzheimer’s disease often causes some behavioral changes and behavioral disorders such as apathy, depression, irritability or agitation. However, it should be noted that the disease affects each person differently and therefore not all sufferers will experience the same symptomatology.