A Slow and Painful Path to Forgetfulness

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posted by Edward Casanova | Nov 26, 2019

Alzheimer's disease (AD), also referred to simply as Alzheimer's, is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time. [1]

The most common early signs of this disease onset are difficulty in remembering recent events, problems with language, disorientation (including easily getting lost), mood swings, loss of motivation, not managing self-care, and behavioural issues. [2, 3]

Ultimately body functions are lost leading to death. Life expectancy after diagnosis is three to nine years. [4]

Here’s a video that shows the progression of the disease.

It was not until 1901 that German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer identified the first case of what became known as Alzheimer's disease, named after him, in a fifty-year-old woman he called Auguste D. He followed her case until she died in 1906, when he first reported publicly on it [5, 6]

What goes on inside your brain?

According to autopsies performed on death patients, it seems that there’s a cerebral accumulation of amyloid-β fibrils. [7]

And apparently, what may be causing it, apart from having a genetic predisposition to developing it, it’s your diet.

Back in the 1990’s, a major susceptibility gene was discovered for Alzheimer’s, called ApoE4. If we have one ApoE4 gene, either from our mom or dad, like about 15% of the U.S. population do, our risk of getting Alzheimer’s is tripled, and if we’re like the 1 in 50 folks who have ApoE4 genes from both parents, we may be at nine times the risk. [8]

However, according to Dr. Greger:

The highest frequency of ApoE4 in the world is in Nigeria, but they also have some of the lowest Alzheimer’s rates. To understand this paradox, one has to understand the role of ApoE. What does the ApoE gene do? ApoE is the principal cholesterol carrier in the brain. So, the Nigerians’ diet appeared to have trumped their genes, due to their low cholesterol levels from their low intake of animal fat, living off of mainly grains and vegetables. [9]

Life expectancy of people with AD is reduced. Following diagnosis it typically ranges from three to ten years. Fewer than 3% of people live more than fourteen years. [10]

So, what can we do to prevent forgetting our must loved ones? Perhaps the answer may lie around our lifestyle, and this includes what we eat.

To be continued...

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References:
  1. Burns A, Iliffe S (February 2009). "Alzheimer's disease". BMJ. 338: b158. doi:10.1136/bmj.b158. PMID 19196745.
  2. "Dementia Fact sheet". World Health Organization. 12 December 2017.
  3. "About Alzheimer's Disease: Symptoms". National Institute on Aging. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  4. Todd S, Barr S, Roberts M, Passmore AP (November 2013). "Survival in dementia and predictors of mortality: a review". International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 28 (11): 1109–24. doi:10.1002/gps.3946. PMID 23526458.
  5. Alzheimer A (1987). Translated by H. Greenson. "About a peculiar disease of the cerebral cortex. By Alois Alzheimer, 1907 (Translated by L. Jarvik and H. Greenson)". Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders. 1 (1): 3–8. PMID 3331112.
  6. Ulrike M, Konrad M (2003). Alzheimer: The Life of a Physician and the Career of a Disease. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-231-11896-5.
  7. Pistollato, F., Cano, S. S., Elio, I., Vergara, M. M., Giampieri, F., & Battino, M. (2016). Role of gut microbiota and nutrients in amyloid formation and pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. Nutrition Reviews, 74(10), 624–634. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuw023
  8. M Kivipelto, E L Helkala, M P Laakso, T Hänninen, M Hallikainen, K Alhainen, S Iivonen, A Mannermaa, J Tuomilehto, A Nissinen, H Soininen. Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele, elevated midlife total cholesterol level, and high midlife systolic blood pressure are independent risk factors for late-life Alzheimer disease. Ann Intern Med. 2002 Aug 6;137(3):149-55.
  9. Hendrie HC, Murrell J, Gao S, Unverzagt FW, Ogunniyi A, Hall KS. International studies in dementia with particular emphasis on populations of African origin. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2006;20(3 Suppl 2):S42-6.
  10. Mölsä PK, Marttila RJ, Rinne UK (March 1995). "Long-term survival and predictors of mortality in Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia". Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. 91 (3): 159–64. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0404.1995.tb00426.x. PMID 7793228.

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