Alzheimer's Disease on the Run

Those of us approaching our Autumn and Winter years make jokes about it.
 

What's the fun of Alzheimer's?  You meet new friends every day!

It's those male companions I hang around with lately, including Al Zeimer and Arthur Itis.

But an alarming article entitled "Alzheimer's Epidemic Feared" from the Associated Press by Lauran Neergaard makes the sobering suggestion that the incidence of Alzheimer's Disease, the dreaded disease wherein total dementia is experienced, is increasing so fast that by 2025, there will be 22 million people affected.

The article raises some questions in my mind though. How much of these 22 million will have 'simple dementia' which has been proven to be prevented by mental stimulation and physical healthy habits and how many will actually have the CBS (chronic brain syndrome) which has been associated with textbook Alzheimer's disease.

There are some differences.  In CBS, there is a rapid deterioration of the brain matter and there seems a smoothing out of the convolutions of the brain.  Dementia is only one of the symptoms - Alzheimer's patients often become cranky and violent, difficult to care for.  As a matter of fact, the quick changes of mood are as often an early symptom as are the short term memory losses.  I ask this because it appears that many who are considered to have Alzheimer's may merely have simple dementia instead.

Another question I have is, do we have some lifestyle practices which could be causing this widespread an incidence of dementia and/or Alzheimer's Disease?

Certain things do come to mind.  For one, some of the chemicals we consume such as Nutrasweet, have been proven to be toxic.  Perhaps the PCBs in the air as well as things like DDT could be contributing factors. Some say there is almost no way to not consume some insecticide on fruit unless the fruit is washed off with soap and somehow soaking a piece of fruit in my dishpan of soapy water removes my desire to eat the fruit!

Another suspect is the lack of fitness in the general population. Although the majority of people seem to feel that exercise is good, less than 20 percent of the population exercises enough to derive any benefit from it.  Decreased circulation and function of the heart could severely affect the brain.

Then, I ask myself if our affinity towards starvation in our fat phobic society could likely affect the well being of the brain.

In another article, I read that recent research shows that 33 percent of what we ingest as nutrients goes to nourish the brain - but if we are invoking the "famine survival response" by denying ourselves food, I suspect that the thinking areas of the brain might be the first to be cut off of nutrition because they are not necessary for the continuance of life.  Worse yet, when the body cannibalizes itself to obtain the energy it needs which it's not getting from nutrition, the brain might be the first area hit.  Do we see too many fat Alzheimer's patients?  Many people live in states of semi starvation on a long term basis in order to maintain their bodies in the stylish mode of very slender.

Finally, the old question arises - how much do our daily learning habits have to do with the oncoming of senility?  We know that watching TV takes less calories to do than sleeping!  But unfortunately, many of us use the TV as our main source of knowledge.  Would reading more books or even taking college courses help stave off senility?  There is good evidence that it does - most of those middle agers and older who attend college or read a lot retain a keen mind.  It turns out that when we learn something new, our brain tends to form new synapses - the opposite of the process of Alzheimer's.

The news article agreed with the good effects of education and reading books:
 

People with more education, in contrast, seem at lower risk of
Alzheimer's. A study presented Sunday of Swedish twins where one
twin had Alzheimer's and the other was healthy suggests a love of
reading, as a child and adult, might be protective.

Dr Ronald Peterson of the Mayo Clinic told the Associated Press:

A key factor appears to be the size of the hippocampus, a region
of the brain that is important for learning and memory. People with
a normal-sized hippocampus, as measured by an MRI machine, seem to
decline slowly. People whose hippocampus has started to atrophy at
the time of MCI diagnosis decline faster.

At present, it seems the only thing we really know about Alzheimer's is that the incidence is increasing at an alarming rate and that there may be many contributing factors to this increase.

Whatever causes Alzheimer's, it appears that healthy living including avoiding questionable chemicals like Nutrasweet combined with good daily learning habits, good nutrition (and the avoidance of dieting) and regular exercise, may be the best protection we have at present.
 

Source: AP 7-9-00, Star 7-9-00, also other sources previously read and available upon request