Dementia begins unnoticed, but leads to sad consequences - the patient does not recognize the faces of his relatives, does not remember where he put this or that thing, does not know himself and does not remember his past.
People with Alzheimer's should always be monitored so that they do not harm themselves.
The disease was discovered by the German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer, and few people know that when he discovered it (it happened in 1906), it’s been several years since he himself was ill.
Early signs of the disease affect patient behavior, and are usually diagnosed as depression. Those with Alzheimer are offended when they are treated like children.
In this article, you will learn about 10 facts of the disease that you might not have known about before.
10. Women get Alzheimer more often
The disease often affects women, and this is an indisputable fact.
Studies by scientists at British University in Hertfordshire have confirmed that the female brain does worse with senile dementia and their mental abilities are significantly reduced.
In some cases, Alzheimer's disease is even ahead of purely female diseases - a 60-year-old woman living in the United States is more susceptible to this disease than, for example, breast cancer.
9. Broad-mindedness reduces the risk of disease
In old age, people stop learning and learning new things. And you need to always maintain the brain in an active state - this reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
In old age, it is especially important to maintain your physical fitness and intellectual skills - you need to solve crosswords, tasks, and learn about the world.
Not everyone has the opportunity to travel, but you can always learn new things, do something - for example, play a musical instrument or learn a foreign language.
8. With Alzheimer, loss of smell occurs
There are people who have a very developed sense of smell, and there are those who do not distinguish smells well - this should alert. A person who cannot recognize and remember the smell risks Alzheimer's.
The disease can be detected in 10 years by sense of smell. But do not confuse - some viral diseases or drugs can cause difficulties in the olfactory system.
Having identified a problem with smell, you can already begin to treat the disease in advance, and not wait until it begins to progress.
7. The heart and head are firmly connected
Cardiac disease - arrhythmia, increases the chances of getting Alzheimer's. This risk factor also includes others: diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity.
Arrhythmia can cause vascular dementia resulting from a narrowing of blood vessels in the brain. This leads to a decrease in oxygen in the brain tissue.
6. Nicotine is not able to prevent the onset of the disease.
Nicotine - is harmful to health, smoking adversely affects the internal organs: kidneys, liver, lungs. Immunity decreases and mental illnesses develop.
Many sources say that nicotine prevents Alzheimer, but this is not so.
Smoking does not protect, but destroys. If you smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day, then after 10 years this terrible disease can occur.
Tobacco smoke inhibits the synthesis of new neurons in the hippocampus, resulting in degeneration of the nervous system.
5. Young people also get Alzheimer's
This disease is considered a disease of the elderly, but young people also suffer from it. The first symptoms can occur at 40, and sometimes at 20, through transmission from parents to the child - and this is in 50% of cases.
The first signs of the disease are manifested in impaired memory, visual blindness. Efficiency, analytical and speech abilities are disrupted, behavior changes - the patient cannot do what he calmly did before.
Of course, older people are most affected, but Alzheimer's can also affect young people.
4. People with the disease can think wisely
Alzheimer's people lose their memory, but they do not lose their ability to think. In addition, sometimes sick people recall some events from their past, find out who is in the photo, etc.
In this case, the main thing is not to confuse the patient - no need to intervene, to push, he will remember when he will be able to. People with Alzheimer's disease may look scruffy because they don’t understand what impression they make on others, but if they see a program on TV saying that they need to get rid of the microwave, because it’s preparing “dead food”, they can do it, without hesitation.
3. Causes of Alzheimer's unknown
Alzheimer's is a terrible disease because doctors don’t know how to prevent it, stop it and how to treat it. The thing is that the cause of the disease is still unknown.
It is known that brain functions are impaired, nerve cells die, but reliable reasons have not been established.
But a study was conducted, and it turned out that Alzheimer's more often affects those who have diabetes, who lead an unhealthy lifestyle and do not engage in intellectual stress.
2. Severe shocks make things worse
Anyone who has Alzheimer's should exclude all annoying factors from his life - a person needs peace, tranquility and a comfortable environment.
If an elderly person is exposed to stress, or, for example, he has to move to a new place of residence, his condition may worsen.
In adulthood, especially with such a terrible disease, it is better to refrain from emotional stormy experiences.
1. Patients are offended when they babysit
Alzheimer's patients are ordinary adults, but in their life a misfortune happened - a disease. When loved ones make them weak, rush with them and lisp, as with children, they are offended by this.
In addition, everyone in the family is used to calling each other not only by name, for example: “Sweetheart”, “Sweetheart” - this is not necessary, because a person needs help to remember the name, and different words will only confuse him.