I just attended an excellent lecture by a man who is deeply involved in the study of Alzheimers disease. You might say he is an expert on the subject.
It was very interesting; I was riveted to the speaker's words for the entire lecture. That is because he presented the facts well and because I am so interested in the subject.
By the looks of it, the other people attending the lecture felt the same way and you could hear a pin drop. All eyes and ears were attuned to his words.
The facts that are known so far were presented along with info about how the disease starts and what it does to your brain and your life.
There was an interesting case study of rats who had dementia. They were put in a little swimming pool with a hidden platform underneath the water. The water was treated so as to be milky so that they couldn't see the platform. The rats swam and swam but could not seem to locate the platform. There were markers on the side of the walls to indicate where the platform was located, this could have been noted by the rats who are very spatially oriented.
Finally, after much swimming, the rats usually found the platform. However, if the same rat was put in the pool the next day, he could not readily find the hidden platform even though he had been in there the day before.
Then the rats were given a dose of a certain drug that is being studied and the next time they went swimming they found the platform pretty quickly.
This gives hope to all who are starting on that journey into that part of our lives known as the elder days. Those of us who can't find our keys, or can't seem to locate that word in our brain library that is just on the tip of our tongue.I watch Jeopardy every night so as to stimulate my brain cells and often know the answer but just cannot spit it out. It is frustrating.
Imagine the horror of having those types of incidents ten times over, much worse and continuing to get worse every day. That is the reality of Alzheimers.
It has been said that the Alzheimer patient is less appalled by its progress than the family and caregivers around them. That is a blessing to the victim of Alzheimers, but little comfort to those who are living with someone who no longer functions in their normal way.
The gentleman went on to cite different drugs that are being tested, the different ways that they are approaching this dilemma, and the hopes for the future. There are two drugs that are being looked at which are not approved for use yet and are only in the Research and development phase.
There are many theories about Alzheimers. It is a disease that is starting to affect more and more people on this planet. It is also evident that because we are living longer, more people will be affected by Alzheimers in the future. Charts were shown that detailed how many are documented with it now, and how many are anticipated to have it when the baby boomers get a little older, say in 2040 or 2050.
I'm sure that Alzheimers has been around for a long time and everyone just thought that it was old age dementia. Well, it is dementia, just a very severe case of dementia.
The lecturer spoke of ways to live healthier lives to hopefully ward off Alzheimers. I can list many of the things he spoke of, but one thing became apparent during the lecture. That is this; if you are unfortunate enough to inherit certain gene characteristics, no matter what you do, you will probably get Alzheimers. Some people do not have those inherited genes and therefore may be spared the horror of the disease.
He spoke of a case many years ago in Great Britain. He was studying the disease then and heard of a family where almost every member had contracted Alzheimers. He visited the one man in that family who was still functioning normally even though he was elderly. When our lecturer visited the man's home, he found it littered with puzzle books of all kinds and reading material. Also, the man had worked for years at a car plant and had put to memory every car part that was in inventory. People could ask him for any part they needed and he could just pull it out of his memory bank without referencing the parts manual.
Our lecturer has concluded that although that man certainly had the propensity for developing Alzheimers because of his family history, he had not succumbed to it because of his extensive memory building skills over a lifetime at the job and his continued brain and memory stimulation after retirement.
The main items that are mentioned in the healthier way of life to ward off Alzheimers are these:
Do not smoke
try the Mediterranean diet,lots of fruits and vegies, lots of olive oil in cooking
drink a modest amount, one or two drinks, of red wine daily
get exercise, it stimulates oxygen to the brain which is important to fending off the effects of Alzheimers. At least 30 min. daily for 5 days a week.
stimulate your brain with engagement in puzzles,crosswords,books,conversation,t.v.,work on your computer,get out in the world.
The things that seem to be factors in the development of Alzheimers; other than the inherited genes, are:
hypertension
lack of exercise
diabetes
high cholesterol
You should see your doctor often enough to keep these things at bay and if you have developed any of them, to treat them immediately and faithfully with the drugs or advice that he gives to you.
I could go on for a much longer time, but this is long enough to share with you the things I learned at the lecture. As I said, it was riveting because we all are at risk and we know it. There was probably no one in the audience who has not been affected by the disease in some way.
Here's hoping that the doctors and scientists can overcome Alzheimers in the near future. Our lecturer said it is his opinion that the answers will come in many different protocols and solutions, not just one "silver bullet".
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