OT: Alzheimer's Symptoms

[diggerfoot]

This is in response to the thread on Pat Summitt. If moderators want to merge this, so be it, but I'm offering it separately because I hope it will prove to be helpful advice for some.

Officially, Alzheimer's is a particular set of neural debris (my own invented term, to keep things simple) that cause a particular set of dementia symptoms. Genetics can provide a predisposition to the accumulation and/or faulty removal of this debris, but faulty removal increases with aging as well. Furthermore, the particular set of dementia symptoms attributed to Alzheimer's can occur without this particular set of neural debris, while people have escaped these dementia symptoms even with this particular set of neural debris. If that sounded a little confusing let me cut to the chase this way: everything currently tested for in an official diagnosis of Alzheimer's is neither necessary nor sufficient for the symptoms of the disease.

If you are looking to avoid Alzheimer's there is no testing nor medical treatment that works on its own accord as well as simply living a high quality of life. I won't go into everything that a "high quality of life" means here, though in our civilization I will caution that the most likely barrier to that is stress. However, I can offer some alternative "tests," focusing on the more pertinent cognitive function rather than the more pernicious genetic predispositions, that could alert you to choosing a high quality of life sooner rather than later.

The earliest signs for Alzheimer's/dementia probably relates to stress, possibly years before the more traditional memory symptoms appear. We all react to things differently so you have to compare this with your own "normal," but if you or loved one starts to either overreact or under react to stress differently than "normal," that is one sign. Another sign that comes before memory is navigation. This is harder to tell in the GPS age where one follows specific instructions from a talking voice, but for us older folks an early sign would be having greater difficulty navigating than what would be "normal."

The memory signs are traditional but, since faulty memory can occur from other causes besides dementia, I will add what I think is the most telling of memory signs for dementia. Have someone mention three different words in the course of a conversation that you are to remember. After the conversation continues for about five minutes, have that person ask you what the three words are. This test only can be applied sporadically, since a person has a certain amount of neuroplasticity even with early Alzheimer's and can train themselves (subconsciously or not) to be better listeners and learners for those three words. Finally, another early sign is to be able to balance on both legs, one at a time, for more than twenty seconds. This is another test that can only be applied every few months or so, otherwise your brain is training yourself to do better with this as well.

Changing your quality of life as a result of heeding these signs will produce more reliable results than genetic testing followed by medical treatments, though for some changing the quality of life is a near impossibility (eg, too overweight, too disabled, or too naturally stressed personality). Hope this ends up helping someone. Be well.

You could check out the brain health page of Humanity Hiker for quality of life factors.

 

[johnnyc]

. Another sign that comes before memory is navigation. This is harder to tell in the GPS age where one follows specific instructions from a talking voice, but for us older folks an early sign would be having greater difficulty navigating than what would be "normal."

This was the case with my Mom. She was our GPS. On family trips she was in the front passenger seat with maps and written directions at the ready. With 8 kids one or two of us was sitting between Mom and Dad and would automatically duck our heads so Mom could open up the map.

Years later I picked up my Mom to go visit my sister who had moved to Queens, NYC and felt no need to get directions because I knew Mom had that under control. As we were driving I could see this look of confusion on her face and all of a sudden a look of terror as she kept asking where are we. I had no idea what was going on.....I had never even heard of Alzheimer's. She calmed down and the rest of the trip went ok but when I got home I called the family and said something was up. We got her checked out and that's how we found out.

 

[Samanthabrown3]

Vascular dementia is more common than Alzheimer's in people over 75 or 80, but people tend to call all dementia Alzheimer's.

 

[OldAlum]

Vascular dementia is more common than Alzheimer's in people over 75 or 80, but people tend to call all dementia Alzheimer's.

So true. My dad is thought to have a mixture. Unfortunately it seems that with vascular dementia the body can continue on longer.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

My doctor put me on folic acid supplements because of a family history of Alzheimer's. Whether it will serve as prevention or not, who knows? I figure it can't hurt and neither can going to the gym almost every day.

 

[diggerfoot]

The symptoms of vascular dementia are much like Alzheimer's, the reason why they are mixed in together. There are other dementias, such as frontal lobe, with a distinctly different set of symptoms and does not usually get lumped with Alzheimer's.

The same strategy applies to vascular dementia, live a high quality of life. Indeed, since poor blood flow is at the root of the problem, living a high quality of life is perhaps even more important to prevent vascular dementia, though that gets increasingly difficult with age.

Here are two analogies to help drive home the point. A variety of ingredients will make for a delicious smoothie; that is like the important role of diet for brain health. However, while the ingredients can vary a little bit and you will still get a delicious smoothie/brain health (folic acid could be an essential ingredient, or not, it depends on what the person tends to naturally lack), no combination will make an effective smoothie unless you turn on the blender. That is similar to the role of exercise. Beyond blood flow and other good stuff, exercise trains the body to get rid of free radicals from oxidation (lets call this metabolic debris). Since exercise was a necessary yet highly oxidative activity for humans to survive, evolution has made exercise itself an effective way to process the metabolic debris from oxidation. However, the blender itself won't work if someone has stuck a fork in the outlet and short-circuited the electrical system ... that's metaphorically similar to what stress does to undermine what might be all the good things you are trying to do for your health.

Another analogy is that of a burning building. Perhaps someone needs to be treated for burns, but the first thing you should do is get them out of the burning building. Just so, the most important step towards a high quality of life is to first remove yourself from the toxins such as stress .... or smoking, or poor air quality, or heavy metals, etc.

Had Dr. Alzheimer, in his autopsy of a 51 year old exhibiting dementia, discovered the contributing "metabolic debris" rather than the "neural debris" Alzheimer's may be a more encompassing term now, leading to a different set of research priorities. "Neural debris" leads to this "metabolic debris;" poor blood flow contributes to this "metabolic debris;" diabetes contributes to this "metabolic debris;" a faulty immune system contributes to this "metabolic debris." Not only that, but there often are positive feedback loops associated with this "metabolic debris." A problem causes "metabolic debris," which in turn aggravates the problem.

I'm working on an eBook, with a working title of The Sock in the Coffee, which I will make available to anyone with an email subscription to my blog .... or if you simply give me your email (though I prefer the subscriptions). In my role of caregiver this is taking a long time to write, but it should be ready in a few months.