These are 4 early signs of Alzheimer’s disease

You can recognise Alzheimer’s disease by these symptoms

In a lot of cases, dementia is connected to Alzheimer’s disease. No less than one in 14 people over 65 gets Alzheimer’s and for people over 85 that number is at one in six people. It’s important to recognise the signals and symptoms at an early date.

Of all types of dementia, Alzheimer’s is the most common one.

Causes of Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia. The term ‘Alzheimer’ is often confused with a more general type of dementia, but this isn’t correct. With Alzheimer’s disease, there’s definitely dementia, but not all people with dementia have Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is a syndrome that is degenerative in nature, which means it gets worse over time. There’s an ongoing decline in brain function. Certain proteins called plaques and tangles are deposited in the brain. These proteins restrict the communication between nerve cells, which eventually affects the memory. There’s no scientific proof for these proteins causing Alzheimer’s. However, together with high blood pressure and a high cholesterol level, this does increase the risk of developing the disease. The exact cause for the disease isn’t known yet.

Symptoms

An important aspect of this disease is that it starts off slowly and gets worse over time. These are a couple of symptoms that will help you recognise Alzheimer’s disease:

• Memory loss: This is the most common symptom. People start to have trouble retaining new information. They start to forget things about recent events of conversations, for example. Problems with reading, talking, writing and maths start to arise as well.
• Cognitive functions: The ability to think, judge/decide and understand is slowly lost. Taking initiative and acting independently starts to become difficult. Social skills start to degenerate and people can get disoriented about time and/or place.
• Losing grip on reality: Alzheimer patients can start to become suspicious or paranoid. Half of all patients have delusions: beliefs that don’t comply with reality. Because of the paranoia and suspicions, patients can think they’ve been stolen from or lied to by their partners or carers. Hallucinations are also a common symptom.
• Problems with everyday activities: Activities that have always been the most natural thing in the world are now done with more difficulty and clumsiness. At the same time, common social relations can remain intact for a long time. This is why it might appear to the outside world as if everything is alright.

Treatment

There is still no cure for Alzheimer’s, but there are certain medicines and therapies that can help make the lives of patients a little bit easier. There are medicines that are said to inhibit early Alzheimer’s, but the opinions on these medicines are divided. Several doctors claim that the side effects of the medicines are bigger than the inhibitory effect on the brain disease. Therapy is mostly about support and guidance and focuses on the question: “How can we make sure the patient feels most comfortable and safe?” The goal is to make sure patients can live at home for as long as possible. People with Alzheimer’s are said to function better when they still live at home.

 

 

Lesser Known Causes of Dementia

Dementia refers to the overall decline in brain functioning. It affects memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking skills. There are various types of dementia depending on the cause. It can take on multiple form. Scientists are currently working on finding the cause of dementia but cannot pin-point a single reason. There are ways in which dementia symptoms, such as reduced concentration, withdrawal or depression, memory problems and increasing confusion, can be managed. Progressive dementia refers to types of dementia that cannot be reversed with any medication or nutrient. Dementia caused by protein deposits or certain vitamin deficiencies can be reversed with treatment. Other than bleeding and sweating on the football ground, there are other various other complex reasons that can cause progressive dementia in an individual.

Alzheimer's disease: One of the causes of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Patients of Alzheimer’s have plaques and tangles in their brains. These plagues and tangles are made up of proteins called tau and beta-amyloid, respectively. They can damage healthy neurons and fibres in the brain. Apart from protein, Alzheimer’s also contains a genetic factor, which could also lead to dementia in Alzheimer’s patients.

Damage to blood vessels: Other than stroke and heart attack, damaged blood vessels that supply oxygen to the brain can also damage fibres in the white matter of the brain. This condition is called vascular dementia. Stroke can also damage your brain causing difficulties in problem-solving, slowed thinking and trouble focusing. 

Huntington's disease: This inherited condition can cause the breakdown (degeneration) of certain nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Huntington’s usually affects people in the mid-30s. Signs and symptoms, include an intense decline in thinking and cognitive skills.

Traumatic brain injuries: Traumatic brain injuries like falling down and hitting your head at home or hitting your head in a car accident can cause major impact on the skull. This impact can lead to abnormal functioning of brain proteins. This could potentially harm your brain and cause dementia.

Heavy metal poisoning: According to a study, constant exposure to heavy metals, such as lead, can damage the brain causing dementia. According to the study, heavy metals can tinker with the person’s genes and stunt children's growth and damage their brain. 

 

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Sleep apnea linked with Alzheimer’s risk

Tau, a protein that forms into tangles, is found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers have revealed a connection between sleep apnea -- a disorder in which breathing stops and starts repeatedly -- and increased levels of a toxic brain protein commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

According to the researchers at Mayo Clinic in the US, people who are witnessed by a bed partner to have stopped breathing during sleep may have higher accumulations of an Alzheimer’s disease biomarker called tau in a brain area that helps with memory.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition that involves frequent events of stopped breathing during sleep, although an apnea may also be a single event of paused breathing during sleep.

Tau, a protein that forms into tangles, is found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
“A person normally has fewer than five episodes of apnea per hour during sleep,” said a researcher.

“Bed partners are more likely to notice these episodes when people stop breathing several times per hour during sleep, raising concern for obstructive sleep apnea,” he said in a statement.

“Recent research has linked sleep apnea to an increased risk of dementia, so our study sought to investigate whether witnessed apnea during sleep may be linked to tau protein deposition in the brain,” he said.

The study involved 288 people aged 65 and older who did not have cognitive impairment. Bed partners were asked whether they had witnessed episodes of stopped breathing during sleep.

Participants had positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans to look for accumulation of tau tangles in the entorhinal cortex area of the brain, an area of the brain in the temporal lobe that is more likely to accumulate tau than some other areas.

This area of the brain helps manage memory, navigation and perception of time.

Researchers identified 43 participants, 15 per cent of the study group, whose bed partners witnessed apnea when they were sleeping.

They found those who had apnea had on average 4.5 per cent higher levels of tau in the entorhinal cortex than those who did not have apnea, after controlling for several other factors that could affect levels of tau in the brain, such as age, sex, education, and cardiovascular risk factors.

“Our research results raise the possibility that sleep apnea affects tau accumulation,” he said.

“But it is also possible that higher levels of tau in other regions may predispose a person to sleep apnea, so longer studies are now needed to solve this chicken and egg problem,” he said. 

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