In the third edition of Youth To Elderly & Alzheimer’s, Dr. Sandy Sanbar, M.D., Ph.D., J.D., discusses the impact Alzheimer’s has on the personal relationships and sex lives of the patients. He also writes about how the current pandemic has affected patients and caregivers. In the book, Sanbar shares different stories and experiences of patients, loved ones, and caregivers to provide new insight into the lives of people affected by the disease. The book is refreshingly informative and educational. If you or someone you know are suffering from Alzheimer’s, this book can answer many unasked questions.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, which worsens over time and age. But there are many important facts about this disease, which is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States of America, that are not commonly known. As per Home Care Assistance, here are a few of them:
· Alzheimer’s and dementia are NOT synonyms.
If you have received a diagnosis you have heard the words, “dementia, probably of the Alzheimer’s type.” Dementia is an overarching term. Alzheimer’s is one of many types of dementia. Based on symptoms, Alzheimer’s is the “probable” diagnosis out of the other forms of dementia. Unfortunately, it requires an autopsy to 100% confirm.
· Dementia (including Alzheimer’s) is more than forgetfulness.
When thinking of dementia, most of us think about memory but this is only one of six ways dementia can change how our mind works. To receive a diagnosis of dementia, you need to have your cognition change in two of the following six ways:
o Complex Attention
o Executive Functioning
o Memory
o Language (expressive and receptive)
o Perceptual
o Social
· Alzheimer’s might not be a disease.
We call Alzheimer’s a disease but the jury is still out. “In contrast to diseases in which bacteria, toxins, tumor formation or specific genes are clearly implicated in causation, it is more difficult to sustain consistent arguments and reach consensus about a phenomenon like Alzheimer’s where, aside from the contribution of aging itself, causation is undeniably complex and remains, for all intents and purposes, unknown,” explains Margaret Lock in her book The Alzheimer’s Conundrum.
· Plaques and tangles aren’t everything.
Alois Alzheimer first discovered plaques and tangles in the brain of one of his patients. Today we associate these with Alzheimer's. When someone shows symptoms of Alzheimer’s their brain is usually autopsied post-mortem and most of the time, plaques and tangles are found, which reinforces our belief that they were the cause of the symptoms.
Thanks to 678 Catholic nuns who donated their brains to science, our beliefs are changing. For the first time, we are looking for plaques and tangles in people without Alzheimer’s symptoms. All the nuns who appeared to have Alzheimer's in life had it confirmed post-mortem. Shockingly, so did the sisters who never exhibited signs of dementia. This means the plaques and tangles are correlated to Alzheimer’s but are not its sole cause as some individuals avoid being symptomatic.
· Alzheimer’s is different than other dementias.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia with an estimated 60-80% of dementia cases being of the Alzheimer’s type. In contrast with other types of dementia, Alzheimer’s is marked by a slow and gradual change. Most people will live for four to eight years after receiving a probable Alzheimer's diagnosis.
· Exercise can delay the onset of dementia.
A longitudinal study of women in Sweden showed a high level of fitness in mid-life correlated with substantial declines in dementia diagnosis. Just 5% of the highly fit women in the study were diagnosed with dementia, compared with 25% for the average and 32% for the low-fitness groups. Even for the minuscule 5% of highly fit women who received a diagnosis, they were diagnosed on average 9.5 years later than their less-fit counterparts. Make sure you harness the benefits of exercise to reduce Alzheimer's risk.
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