Alzheimer’s Disease: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention & Risk Factors

Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disorder that leads to memory loss, impaired thinking, and changes in mood and behaviour. It is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60-80% of all cases. The disease is progressive and eventually leads to death.

There is no known cure for Alzheimer's, but there are ways to prevent it. Studies have shown that certain lifestyle choices can reduce your risk of developing the disease. These include maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and managing stress.

In addition, certain medical conditions can increase your risk of Alzheimer's disease. These include diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. If you have any of these conditions, it is essential to control them with medication and lifestyle changes.

Causes of Alzheimer's Disease

The process in the brain starts many years before symptoms manifest, even if the exact cause is unknown.

Different parts of the brain diminish throughout time. Memory-related areas are frequently the first to be damaged with age. Instead of memory issues, the earliest signs may be issues with vision or language.

Following the tips in this article can reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

The Effects of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and cognitive skills. The cause of Alzheimer's is still largely unknown, but scientists believe it involves a combination of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Taking care of various factors helps in Alzheimer's disease prevention.

The disease usually affects people over 65 and the risk of Alzheimer's increases with age. However, younger people can also get the disease, although this is rare. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60-80% of all cases.

There is no known cure for Alzheimer's, but there are treatments that can help manage the symptoms of the disease. These treatments can help improve the quality of life for the person with Alzheimer's and their caregivers.

How Can You Prevent Alzheimer's?

The risk of developing Alzheimer's increases as you age. People with subclinical cardiovascular disease have a higher risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's. Maintain a healthy lifestyle for Alzheimer's prevention, as there is a link that persons who are physically, mentally, and socially engaged throughout their lives have lower rates of dementia or Alzheimer's.

Steps for Alzheimer's disease prevention and reducing the risk of the disease are given below:

Stop Smoking

Your arteries narrow due to smoking, which may increase blood pressure. It also raises your chance of developing cancers and cardiovascular problems. These cardiovascular diseases add to the risk of Alzheimer's.

Keep Intake of Alcohol to a Minimum

In addition to harming your neurological system, particularly your brain, consuming excessive amounts of alcohol raises your risk of stroke, heart disease, and several types of cancer.

Maintain a Healthy and Balanced Diet

You have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol if you eat a diet heavy in salt, sugar, and saturated fat but low in fibre. These are associated with an increased risk of vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Exercise Regularly

Additionally, older persons who do not exercise are more prone to experience memory or thinking issues (known as cognitive ability). You run an increased chance of developing dementia, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and being overweight or obese if you don't engage in regular physical activity.

Challenge Your Mind

Staying mentally and socially active may help lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. You can engage in the following activities:

• Reading
• Acquiring language skills
• Musical instrument playing
• Engaging in group activities
• Taking up new hobbies or endeavours
• Keeping up a busy social life

Risk Factors 

They are not directly responsible for developing Alzheimer's or dementia but they contribute to having this disease. The risk of dementia could be significantly decreased by changing all the risk factors you can change. These factors consist of the following:

Age:

Chances of developing Alzheimer's multiply every five years after you touch 65. There are few cases found between 40 and 65 years old.

Genes/Hereditary: 

The genes in your family also are responsible, and it is found that Alzheimer's runs in the family. It is more important to keep yourself away from risk factors if you carry these genes from your ancestors.

Loss of Hearing: 

People start feeling lonely even sitting among the family as they cannot listen and communicate properly. This lead to slowly drifting towards their shell into loneliness.

Chronic Depression: 

Your capacity to participate in social, challenging, and meaningful activities can be negatively impacted by poor mood, anxiety, or depression.

Isolation from Others or Loneliness:

Being socially active is important, as your cognitive abilities will not diminish.

Sedentary Lifestyle:

Physically being active adds to maintaining a healthy and active life, thus keeping the body and mind fit as per age.

Down's Syndrome: 

People with this condition are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's.

Conclusion

Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disorder that leads to memory loss and cognitive decline. It is the most common form of dementia, and there is currently no cure. However, some things can be done for Alzheimer's prevention or at least to delay its onset. These include exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and getting plenty of sleep if you start to experience any of the early symptoms of Alzheimer's. Book an Alzheimer's disease test with Metropolis Healthcare.