What Causes Alzheimer's Disease?
Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are brain diseases that cause degenerative loss of function in the brain and body. These conditions can be scary for those impacted and their loved ones. Understanding the potential causes of Alzheimer's may help you understand the potential support options available to you.
What is Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's is a neurological disorder that causes brain cells to die over time, leading to memory loss and decreased brain function. The symptoms of Alzheimer's start mild but grow more severe as time progresses, ending in fatality.
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, making up 60% to 70% of dementia cases worldwide. Nearly six million people in the US live with Alzheimer's, and it is expected to exceed 13 million by 2050.
What causes Alzheimer's disease?
The leading cause of Alzheimer's is brain cell death, like other forms of dementia. It is a degenerative disease that progressively worsens as time passes. A person with Alzheimer's has fewer nerve cells and connections in their brain, and those cells and connections continue to die off as time passes.
Autopsies performed on those with the disease show that the brain contained tiny deposits, called plaques, between dying brain cells and tangles in the nerve cells accumulated on the brain tissue. The plaques are made of a beta-amyloid protein, while the tangles are composed of another protein called tau.
Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease
Early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease can include the following:
- A decline in the ability to remember new information causes the person to repeat questions or conversations, misplace items, forget appointments, or get lost on an otherwise familiar trip
- Difficulty with reasoning, judgment, and handling more complex tasks, such as understanding safety risks, managing finances, making decisions, and planning more in-depth activities
- Problems with vision that are not due to eyesight, such as an inability to recognize faces or find objects within plain sight
- Difficulty with speaking, reading, or writing
- Changes in personality or behavior include apathy, a loss of empathy, erratic mood swings, withdrawal, or other forms of socially unacceptable behavior
Memory loss and language difficulties are the most prominent early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The key to Alzheimer's symptoms is that they take months or years to worsen rather than hours or days. If cognitive functions are declining faster, this may signal a medical emergency.
Is Alzheimer's disease genetic?
If you know someone in your family who has or has had Alzheimer's, you may have asked yourself, is Alzheimer's disease hereditary?
Does Alzheimer's skip a generation?
No, Alzheimer's does not skip a generation. If you have inherited the APOE-e4 gene (the "Alzheimer's gene") and live long enough, you may also develop the disease. However, many forms of Alzheimer's disease are not inherited.
How does Alzheimer's cause death?
It may be difficult to understand how Alzheimer's disease causes death. This condition causes death in the same way as another progressive disease causes death, which involves complications due to the condition. For instance, as patients lose control over their motor skills, they may become bedridden. Bedridden people can develop blood clots, and when a blood clot loosens, it can travel to the heart, lungs, or brain, which may cause death.
Alzheimer's disease causes people to lose the ability to move and eat for themselves, in addition to other forms of disability. If these individuals are not cared for, such disabilities can have devastating consequences. At the end of the disease, many people require round-the-clock care.
Alzheimer's disease vs. dementia
Dementia is the more general term under which other neurological issues fall. Dementia refers to a range of conditions with a loss of cognitive function. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia; others include Huntington's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and Parkinson's disease. A person can experience more than one type of dementia.
How is Alzheimer's diagnosed?
There is no single test used to diagnose Alzheimer's. Doctors analyze an individual's symptoms, review their medical history, and attempt to rule out any other conditions before determining a diagnosis. They may also test the person's neurological functions, such as balance, reflexes, and senses. Other tests may be performed, such as a CT or MRI of the brain, blood or urine test, or depression screening.
Once the patient has passed these tests, the doctor will move on to cognitive and memory tests to analyze the individual's ability to think clearly and recall information.
Treatment for Alzheimer's disease
There is no cure for Alzheimer's. Once brain cells die, there is no way to reverse the process. However, people with Alzheimer's can enjoy an improved quality of life with the appropriate treatment. For instance, support groups can go a long way, as can activities that keep the mind keen.
There are no medications to cure Alzheimer's, but some medications can improve a person's quality of life by reducing symptoms or slowing disease progression. Quality-of-life care can become more critical as the person loses their ability to live independently without outside assistance.
Risk factors and preventative care
There is no definitive way to prevent the development of Alzheimer's. Certain risk factors may be unavoidable, such as aging, having Alzheimer's in one's family history, or being born with specific genes. Certain activities, like exercising regularly, keeping conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes in check, and quitting smoking, may prevent the onset of Alzheimer's. Eating a healthy diet and participating in lifelong learning activities that keep the brain keen is essential.
It can also be helpful to know the risk factors associated with developing Alzheimer's disease, though there may be no way to avoid them. For example, exposure to certain environmental chemicals, such as pesticides, toxic metals, or industrial chemicals, may hasten Alzheimer's onset, as can repeated or severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI). An average TBI can double a person's risk of developing dementia, while a severe TBI raises it by 4.5 times the average likelihood.
To reduce the chances of experiencing a TBI, wear a seatbelt in the car and proper equipment to safeguard your head while playing contact sports. Follow the directions given by your doctor to ensure that you get rest to expedite proper recovery following an injury.
Caregiver support
Taking care of someone with Alzheimer's can be challenging, and it can be essential for caregivers to receive support. In addition, living with Alzheimer's can cause several challenging emotions to arise. The Alzheimer's Association has resources available. However, if you face barriers to receiving care, such as disability or financial challenges, you may also benefit from online therapy through a platform like BetterHelp.
Online therapy can have many benefits for caregivers and their loved ones. Because you attend treatment remotely, you don't have to worry about commuting to an office and won't be put on a waiting list. When you sign up for online treatment, you'll be matched with an available therapist to get started.
Research shows that online therapy is effective. One study showed online therapy could significantly decrease the impact of stress and chronic fatigue on participants, leading to a 50% reduction in symptoms for several mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression.
Takeaway
What is the main cause of Alzheimer's?
Brain cell death is the leading cause of Alzheimer’s disease, but scientists don’t fully understand what causes some people to get it. The cause may be a combination of environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors. The memory problems and brain changes in Alzheimer’s are caused by neurofibrillary or tau tangles and beta-amyloid plaques.
What are the 5 main causes of Alzheimer's?
Researchers don’t know exactly what causes Alzheimer’s, but they have identified some causes and risk factors, including:
- Aging
- Genetics
- Health factors like vascular conditions and metabolic diseases
- Environmental factors, like pesticides and metals
- Lifestyle factors, including a nutritious diet, adequate sleep, social engagement, and physical activity
How do you avoid getting Alzheimer's?
Researchers have proposed some interventions that may help prevent Alzheimer’s, like controlling high blood pressure to prevent heart disease, increasing physical activity, and engaging in cognitive training exercises. That said, Alzheimer’s is a complex disease with behavioral symptoms that affect a person's ability to function across a range of areas, and while researchers can’t say for sure if these interventions safeguard against Alzheimer’s or any form of dementia or mild cognitive impairment, these steps may reduce some people’s risk.
Is Alzheimer's genetic or hereditary?
Yes, genetics is a risk factor for getting Alzheimer’s, though it is not strictly hereditary as other factors may be involved. In many cases, Alzheimer's doesn’t have a single genetic cause and may be caused by a combination of multiple genes and lifestyle and environmental factors. Not that people with a family history of Alzheimer’s do not always have a history of the disease, but those with a close family member with the disease are more likely to develop it than people without this association. Early-onset Alzheimer’s can have a stronger hereditary pattern than late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Who gets Alzheimer's the most?
There are some risk factors that can increase your risk of getting Alzheimer’s. After age 65, a person's risk of getting Alzheimer's doubles every five years. After age 80, women have a slightly higher risk of getting the disease than men.
Genes can increase the risk of getting familial Alzheimer's disease, particularly if they are passed down from parent to child. Out of 1000 people who develop Alzheimer’s, less than ten will have it because of a familial gene. Risk genes are those that can increase a person’s chances of developing Alzheimer’s, but these genes do not always lead to developing dementia and only slightly raise someone’s risk. Interestingly, people with Down syndrome have a much higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s from a genetic cause.
Can Alzheimer's be prevented?
There are no guaranteed ways to prevent Alzheimer’s, but researchers believe there are some interventions that may help: controlling blood pressure, engaging in cognitive training exercises, and increasing physical activity. But Alzheimer's is complex, and while these interventions may not prevent it, they may help reduce the risk.
What are 3 foods that prevent Alzheimer's?
Numerous studies show the Mediterranean diet can support brain health. This diet includes a lot more than just three foods! The Mediterranean diet includes olive oil, fish, avocados, vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, whole grains, and even a little red wine in moderation.
What is the most preventable cause of Alzheimer's?
Clinical trials have shown that some interventions that might help prevent Alzheimer’s that can be pretty manageable include controlling blood pressure, engaging in cognitive training exercises, and increasing physical activity.
What are the 3 foods that fight memory loss?
Three foods that may help fight memory loss or cognitive decline include fish like salmon, sardines, and tuna; berries, including strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries; and whole grains such as oatmeal, quinoa, and brown rice.
Which parent carries the Alzheimer's gene?
Either parent can carry the Alzheimer’s gene, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that their offspring will get the brain disorder. Genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors contribute to whether someone develops Alzheimer's and related dementias.
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