The disease is quite an unfortunate one and is the most common form of dementia, a common term for memory loss and other abilities that are considered to be a serious enough issue to interfere with the daily life and chores. It’s so common that Alzheimer’s accounts for about 70% of all dementia cases! For those of you, who haven’t had a firsthand experience with someone who is suffering from the disease, imagine having a family member or a best friend who refuses to recognize you, or in worse cases forgets to eat their food?
Although it is related to aging and age is considered one of the primary causes of Alzheimer’s, it’s not just the age. Majority patients are 65 and above but it isn’t a normal part of aging and most patients start getting an early onset or flashes of the condition as early as their 50s. The sad part is that it worsens over time and is progressive in nature. Over the years, the symptoms get worse and memory loss as well. Sadly, there are no cures for it yet but there are certain treatments that can greatly slow down the symptoms and the worsening of the symptoms to give the patient and his family some relief.
One of the ways of keeping the risk of Alzheimer’s at bay has been found to be reading the writing, solving challenging puzzles and doing crosswords. A new study conducted by the University of California shows that brain stimulation can reduce the risk of dementia. Beta-amyloid is a toxic protein that builds up in the brains of those with this disease and is the main component of the brain panels that characterizes the plagued patients.
The study conducted showed that people who indulged in mentally stimulating activities such as crosswords and puzzles had a far lesser buildup of beta-amyloid than those who did not. The research subjects were all above the age of 70 and another aspect of avoiding this disease was indulging in physical activity such as walking and cycling. Coupling mental and physical health seems to be the key to an Alzheimer’s free healthy life!