Alzheimer's Disease: Prevention

Alzheimer's disease - an incurable, progressive disease of the nervous system, damaging the memory, resulting in loss of intellectual and social skills, as well as inflicting damage on important mental functions - speech and logical thinking. This state of health is a heavy and unexpected blow to the family of the patient.

Alzheimer's disease affects adults - after age 50 years. In fact, suffer from Alzheimer's and young people, although modern scientists have found that most of the disease affects people older than 65 years, and every 5 years, the risk of disease increases twice.

Causes Alzheimer's Disease

On the question about the etiology of Alzheimer's disease, medical science does not give accurate answers.

• It is assumed that there is a genetic predisposition to the disease - the so-called familial gene, in case mutations which the disease develops.
• A role in disease development play some viral infections because nervous system lesions in Alzheimer's disease in many ways similar to other nerve diseases caused by the aforementioned viruses.
• Not excluded role of vascular disorders in the brain detected as early in the disease and during its course.

Symptoms of the Disease

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by:

• Progressive pronounced memory impairment;
• Multiple cognitive deficits, which is manifested by a combination of memory disorders and the presence of these disorders;
• Violation of the speech function (aphasia).
• Violation of the ability to perform motor activity, daily living skills, at the same time a motor functions are not violated (apraxia);
• The inability to recognize objects, despite the preservation organs of perception (agnosia);
• Violation of the planning, programming, abstraction, establishing cause-effect relationships;
• Reducing the social and professional adaptation of the patient expressed by memory impairment and intelligence;
• The gradual hardly noticeable beginning of the disease and a steady progression of dementia.

A characteristic feature of Alzheimer's disease are visual-spatial disorders. Patients with difficult to navigate in the environment, even in familiar surroundings, in their own home have difficulties in orientation. Patients can be difficult to put on clothes, special difficulties presents location of objects at table setting.

Another characteristic feature of Alzheimer's disease is early and rapidly progressive loss of skills are expressed in incompetence, helplessness and absentmindedness when performing usual activities (sewing, cooking, use the phone, and others.).

Speech disorders characterized by undistinguished start, a gradual increase in the outcome and the complete destruction of the speech function. There have been gradual violations, and further and complete loss, reading, writing, counting. The disease ends complete disintegration of mental activity - marasmus.

Alzheimer's Disease Treatment

Developed the basic directions of treatment of Alzheimer's disease:

• Substitution (compensatory), aimed at overcoming the neurochemical deficit in different areas of the brain.
• Neuroprotective - contributes to the preservation and improvement of the viability of nerve cells.
• Vascular.
• Psychological correction, trainings for the patients.
• Mandatory psycho-social work with relatives.

Measures for the prevention the Disease

1. Changing lifestyles. Scientifically proven that delay the onset of this disease is possible. The main thing to abandon bad habits, move more, engaged in morning exercises, regularly walking, engage in any sports (swimming, cycling, tennis, dancing, playing football or volleyball).

2. Continuous training of the brain - a key component of prevention of this disease. It is important to actively participate in all spheres of activity: reading books, engage in any kind of writing activities, play musical instruments, learn foreign languages and the crossword puzzles, sports - golf, chess, bowling and others.

3. Healthy diet. Proper nutrition - the key to the health of all organs and body systems. This is also true for brain activity. there are simple rules of supply to strengthen brain health:

• it is important to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cabbage), as well as fresh juices. All this will help to keep the body in good shape to old age;
• diversify your diet with berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, cranberries), in which there are anthocyanosides - these substances are known to protect brain cells from destruction by free radicals, and thus preserve the clarity of mind in old age;
• often need to eat seafood (shrimp, clams, oysters, and sea fish - tuna, mackerel and salmon) - these products contain polyunsaturated fatty acids omega-3, anti-aging and nervous system diseases;
• it is important to eat foods rich in folic acid (lentils, asparagus, citrus fruits, beans, broccoli and avocado). This acid controls the level of homocysteine in the body, increase which adversely affects human cognitive functions.