- It is the most common form of dementia and mainly affects people over 65 years of age.
- The increase in life expectancy can cause the number of patients to double every 20 years.
- So far there is no cure or way to prevent the disease, but what can be done is to delay its onset.
It is a reality that there are more and more older adults in the world as a result of advances in Medicine. The development of medicines and vaccines has been useful to deal with a large number of diseases. Although to date there is one for which there is no cure and it is Alzheimer’s. In fact, more and more people are affected because the most vulnerable group is made up of older adults.
In the case of Mexico alone, it represents between 60 and 70% of dementia diagnoses, that is,, an estimated one million 300 thousand people. While it is characterized as a disease that mainly affects people over 65 years of age.
The older the risk, the higher the risk
According to the report “Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures 2022”, in 2022 a prevalence of 5% was reported in people aged 65 to 74 years. While it is 13.1%, in those from 75 to 84 and 33.2% in those over 85 years of age. This means that the older you get, the risk of this condition increases.
Due to this particularity and the general increase in life expectancy, it is estimated that cases double every 20 years, according to studies by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
With this context, Dr. Sergio Ramirez-Salazar, Fellow in Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospitalanswered some of the most common questions about the disease.
How is Alzheimer’s detected and what are the first symptoms?
It can be identified by different symptoms. The most common is short-term memory loss. People start to forget what they just did, repeat conversations, or ask questions multiple times.
Long-term memory, in these cases, is more stable, people usually remember their childhood or important events from the past.
Other symptoms may be language disorders, difficulty remembering some words; others related to vision, such as identifying or recognizing certain objects. Also changes in personality or cognitive function and even difficulty organizing and planning.
There is also the possibility of detecting it in preclinical stages, that is, before presenting symptoms. This has happened with participants in clinical research studies, where the accumulation of proteins characteristic of Alzheimer’s in the brain, such as amyloid and tau, has been detected.
In early stages, they are usually related to memory or loss of attention and concentration, that is, it is always through symptoms.
Which are the risk factors?
Age is the main risk factor; however, in medical terms, we classify the other factors into two types. The modifiable and non-modifiable, that is, those in which we can exercise an action and those that are genetic or hereditary.
not modifiable
This type includes the genetic factor, specifically, the APOE4 gene. According to research, it has been detected that if you have a copy of this gene, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s increases 3 or 4 times. While having two copies increases the risk 10 times.
Despite these figures, it is important to clarify that it is a probability. The presence of this gene does not imply that the disease will necessarily develop for this reason in the future.
There is also the family history factor, which increases the risk of developing the condition; however, this is more common in cases where it develops before the age of 65.
modifiable
Most of these factors are also related to other diseases such as low physical activity, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of sleep, alcohol or tobacco use.
Also blows are a factor, having a head injury can increase the risk for different types of dementia.
Even the issue of education is important. Studies have shown that those with a lower educational level are more predisposed due to lower cognitive reserve.
In the same way, if you do not have social interaction or have a bad diet. Processed foods are the ones that affect the most because they promote the development of other diseases.
If my mother or father suffered from Alzheimer’s, could I also suffer from this disease?
The genetic and familial factor can increase the risk; however, this does not guarantee that the child will also develop it.
Even if the child develops dementia, it could be due to other factors such as “modifiable”, where lifestyle, diet or education are the factors that promoted the disease, not necessarily the genetic factor.
Even if a person has a family history, prior genetic testing to monitor risk is not recommended if there are no symptoms.
How to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and reduce risk factors?
The way to reduce risk factors is precisely by taking action on the “modifiable” factors and that mostly impact people’s lifestyle.
A healthy lifestyle should be followed throughout life, but we recommend that if it is not followed, after the age of 40 different aspects can be modified, such as exercising and eating a diet low in processed food. The Mediterranean diet and the MIND diet have been studied and have shown that they reduce risk factors due to their high fiber content; as well as the amount of fruits and vegetables. A plant-based diet is ideal.
Education is also an important factor, one should not stop learning, since this helps to strengthen cognitive processes; as well as staying socially active.
And of course, sleeping well is essential. If you have problems with apnea or lack of sleep, it is important to treat them to avoid long-term problems.
Can the degenerative process be stopped or at least slowed down?
Investigations continue every day; however, it is still not possible to stop the degenerative process or slow down the development of the disease in advanced stages. But it is possible to improve the quality of life.
Before you have Alzheimer’s, you can be diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Disorder, which is the stage before dementia. This is the stage where the results are more favorable and progression can be reduced. The actions are more focused on following a healthy lifestyle that improves the person’s quality of life.
In advanced stages it is when pharmacological treatments should be used; however, these are more focused on counteracting the development of alpha and beta tau and amyloid proteins. However, work is still ongoing so that these drugs have an impact in counteracting the development of symptoms. This is the priority for researchers around the world.
In conclusion, there is still no treatment to date that reverses or cures the disease, but research continues to advance.
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