The Effects Of Alzheimer 's And Dementia Among Elderly Populations

But that brings us to what might come in the future. According to Professors Lin Li of Shanxi Medical University and Christian Hölscher of Lancaster University in their report published on January 1, 2018 that I’ll call Neuroprotective effects for short, link diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease by stating that “the underlying mechanism is most likely that insulin signaling is impaired in the brains of AD patients.” This led to studying the effects of a drug that’s meant to stimulate diabetes-combating hormones in the brain.

No one wants to lose their mind. But the reality is that the risk of dementia doubles every five years after the age of sixty-five. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this age-related loss of brain function? Are There Ways to Reduce Dementia Through Lifestyle Changes? European researchers analyzed 1,433 people over the age of 65 to determine what lifestyle factors would reduce the risk of dementia the most. After getting a complete medical history on the participants, they tested their cognitive function at intervals over a seven year period. What did they find? According to this research, the two best ways to reduce the risk of dementia is to eliminate diabetes and depression - both of which are dementia risk factors. If both of these factors were eliminated and more people were encouraged to eat fruits and vegetables, the number of new cases of dementia would drop by 21%. There 's some controversy as to whether depression actually increases the risk of dementia - or whether it 's simply an early sign of the disease. This study suggests that depression probably does increase the risk of the disease - and isn 't just a symptom. It 's not surprising that diabetes is a risk factor since it 's associated with insulin resistance. Some studies show insulin resistance increases the risk of dementia. Another way to reduce dementia risk is to encourage people to be literate and educated. This study showed that the number of new cases of dementia would drop by 18% if

A major devastating and debilitating disease, Alzheimer 's is a public health issue that affects not only the United States but also countries all around the world. In 2010, there were 35.6 million people living with Alzheimer’s. Researchers and medical personnel expect this number to triple by the year 2050. The disease is costing America an exorbitant amount of money and has become a burden on families, caregivers, medical personnel, the healthcare system, and the nation’s economy. If attention is not focused on this major problem, “nursing homes will be overloaded, caregivers will be burned out, healthcare system will be overwhelmed, and federal and state budgets will be overtaxed” (Alzheimer’s Association, 2011).

The topic of this article is about the effects that Alzheimer’s has on the patients, family members/caregivers. I believe there is a grave importance in this topic to help understand the effects of this disease and possibly help farther research. This might bring a few questions to the front of this discussion. How the relationship is after a patient is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s? How does this effect the family members/caregivers? What symptoms do family members experience with Alzheimer’s patients? What factors in life play a role in developing this disease? This paper will explore these questions with the respect of these news articles.

Providing care for a person with dementia is like being on a roller coaster ride that never ends and the ride can make the caregiver sick. In order to discuss dementia caregiving, a definition of dementia and the impacts of dementia are needed. Dementia is the generic term used by health care professionals to describe a person’s symptoms of memory and judgment issues (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015b) and furthermore is a growing problem in the United States of America (USA) and around the world. Currently 5.3 million people in the USA have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, and dementia numbers are expected to increase by 40% in the next decade (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015a). Dementia care is

According to data available from the Alzheimer’s foundation every 67 seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s disease and currently at least 5.3 million people are affected by the disease. The numbers are expected to grow as 75 million baby boomers transition into retirement by 2030. Alzheimer disease is a brain disorder that causes decay and dis- function of neurons resulting in memory loss, speech and language impairment. This can also extend to challenges in physical and social behavioural. The brain, consisting of the cerebrum, cerebellum and brain stem is the primary target of Alzheimer’s disease. At three pounds the brain has a network of arteries and a folded cortex that is responsible for memory and movement. These functions are facilitated by a network of neurons. Alzheimer’s disease interferes with these neurons by disrupting electrical transfer; Death of brain cells is inevitable as the cortex shrinks becoming incapable of developing thoughts and memory. The Alzheimer’s patient experiences an altered personality with family members becoming strangers.

Attending the Mental Health Conference held on November 5, 2015, was educational and inspiring. As a Gerontology major this conference offered many points of learning about mental health issues which were of great interest. The main topic was primarily of the effects of dementia.

Some people live to be 100 and are still alert and in control of all their functions!! So to answer the question, is dementia normal? Should we all be afraid that the longer we live, the less capable we will be in living life? The answer is no. “Progressive severe loss of memory-routinely forgetting conversations or that one ate at a particular restaurant-and impaired thinking abilities are not a normal part of aging. Rather, such problems may be signs of a dementia-loss of brain functions due to an organic cause. Dementia is a generic term that includes a host of symptoms related to brain failure. There are several causes of dementia, but Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause.” (Kuhn, 1999. p.11)

Diabetes is defined as a disease that involves blood sugar levels, glucose, and insulin. These all come together and cause major problems in the body. When glucose levels are too high, the body needs insulin to turn the glucose into energy for the cells. In type one diabetes, the body does not create the insulin needed, so the body cannot turn the glucose into energy, which leads to extremely high glucose levels (Diabetes). Type two diabetes, and the most common type is the result of the body making but not using the insulin that it makes well (Diabetes). Without glucose, high amounts of insulin will remain in the blood. However, constantly having high glucose levels will also cause problems with the kidneys, eyes, and other important nerves (Diabetes). Many studies have been done that show how elevated levels of glucose share dementia related outcomes.

Does antidiabetic medication create a possible risk for increased cognitive decline in older adults? In 2013, over 5 million older adults were estimated to have some form of cognitive decline, and it was estimated that 29.5 million older adults have type 2 diabetes. This is the largest increase for adults 65 and older in the United States (Alzheimer’s, 2015). As people continue to live longer the increase of type 2 diabetes in skilled nursing facilities has also grown from 16 to 23 percent (Zhang, 2010). Although, medications are used and needed for both conditions, type 2 diabetes can be a self-care and controllable disease through diet and increased exercise, yet cognitive decline only worsens over time.

Alzheimer’s is increasing and those 65 and up has a greater chance of being possibly diagnosed with this hopeless disease in later adulthood because learning and long term memory abilities decreases. (Kroner, 2009) Diabetes is a well-known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease that effects the elderly and individually are appalling diseases. The connection between Alzheimer’s and diabetes has yet to be determined, therefore studies are being completed to find the connection between the two diseases. Diabetes is the condition in which the body does not produce enough insulin to function properly, in which food is not processed properly for energy causing elevated levels of glucose in the blood. Simply, not enough insulin equals glucose (used for

As your brain produces insulin diabetes speeds up plaque production in the brain, causing a disruption in the signaling of insulin production, which causes the memory loss. Because insulin helps the memory, those with diabetes have a sixty-five higher probability of getting dementia. Fructose-rich diets cause insulin production to skyrocket; consequently constant high levels of insulin cause the brain to block the signals (Mercola).

For many years, it was generally considered that the brain was insensitive to insulin, but it is now accepted that this hormone has central neuromodulatory functions, including roles in learning and memory, that are impaired in AD. However, until recently, the molecular mechanisms accounting for brain insulin resistance in AD have remained elusive.

A growing body of evidence has indicated that sAD is multifactorial, with age being an important risk factor. Main neuropathological hallmarks identified in Alzheimer’s brains are beta-amyloid deposits, hyperphosphorylated tau proteins, and astrogliosis [1]. Recently, dysregulated brain insulin signaling has been reported to play a pivotal role in AD pathology. Additionally, several studies have indicated that insulin malfunction induces beta amyloid accumulation and tau pathology in AD brain [2]. Thus, Alzheimer’s disease has been argued to be a type III diabetes [3, 4]. Given the specific nature of sAD, there is no clinical evidence on its early stage, and this makes making an appropriate model more difficult. Thus, a convenient model for the initiation phase of sAD could be the

Dr. Omar Kassaar, also from the University of Bath, further added that “excess sugar is well known to be bad for us when it comes to diabetes and obesity, but this potential link with Alzheimer’s disease is yet another reason that we should be controlling our sugar intake in our diets.”