Early Diagnosis as a Tool for Preventing Alzheimers
One of the best methods of preventing Alzheimers disease involves early detection. Early detection does
not qualify as a cure, of course, but it makes the disease manageable in the way diabetes is manageable but
can never be cured.
While researchers are currently searching for structural changes in the brain and markers in spinal and
cerebral fluid that could signal the start of Alzheimer’s disease, other effective methods of
Alzheimer’s prevention can be immediately incorporated into everyday life.
The first method of preventing Alzheimers disease involves medications typically used to treat
Alzheimer’s disease—cholinesterase inhibitors such as Cognex, Aricept and Exelon.
Doctors are considering prescribing these drugs at the first sign of memory loss before traditional
assessment scales used to detect Alzheimer’s could make a diagnosis. People typically believe that the
current medications used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease are less effective than they really are
because the medications are best at treating the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Unfortunately, 95 percent of patients are diagnosed four years after their symptoms begin. For symptoms to
have begun four years earlier, a considerable portion of their brain had to have already been damaged. As a
result, by the time most Alzheimer’s patients begin their medication, they are already in the last stages of
the disease.
Oftentimes, a personal awareness of impaired memory is one of the first signs of the disease, and physicians
are debating whether or not to take the “better safe than sorry” route of Alzheimer’s disease prevention.
Nutritional deficits can affect the health of neurons in the brain, so the second method of
Alzheimer’s prevention involves taking multivitamins, such as Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin B12, and
folate. Vitamins E and C are powerful antioxidants that can combat the free radicals associated with aging. B12
and Folate are also said to have beneficial properties, including the ability to lower levels of
homocysteine—an amino acid that has been linked to heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Some older people require
B12 injections, so discussing with a physician the proper form and dosage of vitamin supplementation is always
the safest route.
The third method for preventing Alzheimers disease involves lowering the risk of vascular problems.
Diabetics need to carefully monitor their blood sugar. An imbalance can cause damage to their vascular
system, including blood flow to their brain, which can lead to dementia. Monitoring cholesterol and
taking prescribed “statin” drugs to lower cholesterol is also of critical importance for vascular health.
Cholesterol in the brain has been linked to the Apolipoprotein E gene, which increases a person’s risk
for Alzheimer’s disease, and research has found some evidence that “statin” drugs may decrease the risk
of Alzheimer’s. Finally, everyone should monitor their blood pressure to make sure it is within a healthy
range. High blood pressure puts people at risk for both strokes and Alzheimer’s disease.
Finally, the fourth method of Alzheimer’s disease prevention may seem commonsense, but it involves wearing
a helmet when riding a bicycling and buckling up when riding in an automobile. Head injuries have been found
to increase the chances of Alzheimer’s disease tenfold in the 15 to 25 percent of the population with
the Apolipoprotein E4 gene, a type of ApoE gene that has been found to have a particularly strong link to
an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. By following these simple prevention tasks, people can utilize a
healthy lifestyle to ward off the disease.**
For searching deeper information about this topic, please feel free to visit
our resources on Preventing Alzheimers.
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