How To Treat A Person With Dementia – Let’s Talk About Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s isn’t easy, but we’ll help you understand the symptoms, treatments, and what it means in your life.
If you or a loved one has trouble remembering things, you may be worried about Alzheimer’s disease, a serious brain disorder that gets worse over time. One in 10 people over the age of 65 have it – and scientists believe it can develop up to 20 years before your first symptoms appear. While there is no cure, there are new treatments on the horizon and you can slow the progression. And it’s a lot to deal with. That’s why we spoke to leading Alzheimer’s experts to give you the risk factor, treatment and symptom knowledge you need to get on with your life. We’re sure you have a lot of questions… and we’re here to answer them.
How To Treat A Person With Dementia
We’ve tapped some of the country’s top Alzheimer’s experts to bring you the most up-to-date information.
What Is Alzheimer’s Disease?
Alzheimer’s Disease Frequently Asked Questions Is Alzheimer’s the same as dementia? Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia and the most common. About 80% of people with dementia have Alzheimer’s. If my mother has Alzheimer’s, am I at risk? Having a first-degree relative with Alzheimer’s disease can increase your chance of developing Alzheimer’s by about 10% to 15%. But it’s more Can I Prevent Alzheimer’s? Experts believe that exercise, a healthy diet, a rich social life (eg volunteering or a book club), quitting smoking give more. Is there a cure for Alzheimer’s? not yet At best, antiretroviral drugs can turn back the clock, but they cannot stop the progression of the disease.
People talk about Alzheimer’s and dementia as if they are two separate things. not you Dementia is used to describe a group of conditions that affect your ability to think, remember and go about your daily life. It can range from a mild impairment — such as difficulty keeping track of days or balancing a checkbook — to a complete inability to care for yourself.
There are many different reasons why you might develop dementia, but the most common is Alzheimer’s disease—according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 80% of people with dementia have Alzheimer’s. It mostly affects people over age 65 (although there is a rare early-onset version that can affect people in their 30s) — about one in 10 U.S. adults over age 65, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s. It is also a progressive disease, meaning it can progress from its mildest form to its most severe form over a period of about four to 12 years. How quickly it progresses usually depends on what age you first start showing symptoms: People in their 60s tend to get worse faster than those who develop them in their 80s, though researchers don’t know exactly why. .
Knowing how a healthy brain works is good for understanding Alzheimer’s. Everything we think, do and feel is the result of billions of nerve cells called neurons communicating with each other and sending messages to different parts of the brain through neurotransmitters. For brain cells to function, they need the right amount of blood and nutrients to nourish them, and enough glucose (aka blood sugar) to fuel them. When your brain has too much debris and too many dead neurons, immune cells, including microglia, clean up the mess.
Effectively Communicating With Dementia Patients About Treatment Options
In the early stages of Alzheimer’s — about 20 years before the first signs of the disease appear — the brain’s ability to keep up with everything starts to break down. Here’s a step-by-step guide to what happens:
This cascade of changes first affects the brain’s temporal lobes and hippocampus, parts of the brain involved in the formation of memory and learning. Because of this, one of the early signs of Alzheimer’s is memory loss (but of a certain kind – more on that later). Later, more parts of the brain are affected and more neurons die, causing the brain to shrink. As a result, people lose more complex thinking – such as the ability to recall events from their childhood or the ability to watch TV shows – and they struggle with everyday tasks such as the ability to dress themselves or control their bladder.
Alzheimer’s cannot be cured. At worst, you lose the skills you were born with, such as swallowing, coughing, and breathing. People who die from Alzheimer’s usually die because they stop eating or have trouble swallowing and develop pneumonia or other infections. Or they die because they can’t take the medication they need to treat another condition, such as heart disease or diabetes. Currently, Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States (at least before 2020).
It all sounds bleak, but there are breakthroughs on the horizon, including a new blood test that can diagnose Alzheimer’s earlier in clinical trials and new drugs that can slow the disease. And because researchers have learned so much over the past decade, even if you’ve been diagnosed with the disease (or know someone who has), there are steps you can take today to buy yourself more time.
Drugs To Treat Alzheimer’s Disease
There are many factors that trigger the build-up of amyloid beta, although researchers are still trying to understand the exact combination of factors that cause one person to develop Alzheimer’s disease and another to develop mild cognitive impairment (a precursor to dementia). , and yet another has amyloid beta plaques but no memory loss problems (and yes it can – in fact 40% of people over 90 have experienced these changes in their brains, but not all of these 90 year olds have dementia). Here are the latest ideas on what exactly contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s:
Alzheimer’s (and other dementias) are not part of the normal aging process, but the older you are, the greater your risk of developing the disease. But why is the million dollar question.
The older you are, the more risk factors have accumulated over the years, such as poor sleep, low levels of inflammation, high blood pressure. Or it could be that age-related changes in the brain—less volume, fewer new brain cells, and lower neurotransmitter levels—may also set the stage. But whatever the cause, age is the biggest risk factor in nearly 90% of Alzheimer’s cases. And the proportion of people living with Alzheimer’s increases with age: from 3% of those aged 65-74 to 32% of those aged 85 and over.
Researchers have identified more than 40 genes that increase your risk of Alzheimer’s. A rare mutation, which affects about 1% of people with Alzheimer’s worldwide, runs in families and is responsible for the early onset of the disease, which occurs in people in their 30s and 40s.
What Is Dementia? Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
Another is the APOE4 gene, which plays a role in the formation of beta amyloid clumps. One in four carries APOE4: if you have a copy, you triple your risk of developing Alzheimer’s; If you inherit two copies (from your mother and father), you increase your risk 12-fold. Then there are genes that can change the way immune cells like microglia interact with beta-amyloid deposits. However, biology is not destiny – and this is where other health determinants come into play.
Experts believe that chronic conditions that affect your metabolic health (such as type 2 diabetes) and blood vessel health (such as high blood pressure) may be more important than genetics in increasing the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Having diabetes or even prediabetes in your 40s and 50s can increase brain inflammation and raise your blood sugar levels, making it easier for beta amyloid to form clumps.
High blood pressure damages the small blood vessels in the brain and can cut off blood flow, causing dead tissue called lesions. High levels of cholesterol and fat in the blood can also cause inflammation, making it harder for cells to clear proteins.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association 2020 report, nearly two-thirds of Alzheimer’s patients are women. Experts attributed the difference to women’s life expectancy – women live longer than men and are therefore more likely to develop dementia as they age. But one study hypothesized that menopause and the hormonal changes that accompany it may be responsible for important changes in the brain, such as producing more amyloid beta, which contributes to Alzheimer’s.
How To Offer Help To Someone With Dementia Who Doesn’t Want It
Blacks and Latinos are also more likely to develop Alzheimer’s — African Americans are twice as likely (with other dementias) and Latinos are 1.5 times more likely. This may have something to do with higher rates of other diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Poor sleep — waking up frequently, having trouble falling asleep — was associated with a higher risk, especially if you have the APOE4 gene, a study found. One reason a lack of sleep may increase risk: Boston researchers found that deep sleep (the type of sleep typically disrupted when you don’t get enough z) activates your brain and spinal cord (cerebrospinal fluid). To clear your brain of garbage.
Being overweight in your 40s and 50s can play a role in Alzheimer’s because it puts you at risk for diabetes, poor heart health and
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