Monday, March 25, 2024
HomeMust ReadDoes Alzheimer's Cause Extreme Fatigue

Does Alzheimer’s Cause Extreme Fatigue

Welcome To The Wild World Of Yeast

Pain and Fatigue in Parkinson Disease – 2019 Parkinson Educational Symposium

Candida is a yeast species. Its also the most common cause of fungal infections on the entire planet. When talking about candida infections, its Candida Albicans that you need to know about. Thats the one thought to do the damage.

When youre healthy, youll find plenty of Candida Albicans taking up residence in your gut. Much like all the bacterial strains that compose your GI tract, there are many different beneficial yeast species doing the same. Most of the time, these yeast species pose no threat to your health.

Until they do

There are thought to be ten billion bacterial cells in your large intestine alone. Think of your gastrointestinal tract as a dog-eat-dog world. Bacteria and yeast compete against each other for resources. This constant competition keeps some semblance of balance between the species. No one species is able to take over as theres so much competition.

All that changes when you alter the state of your gut. Like when you take antibiotics. A longterm dose of antibiotics can kill off too many bacterial species that the candida species no longer have the same degree of competition. This promotes the flourishing and not in a good way of yeast species.

Just like that, youve got candida overgrowth.

Ok, now that you know a little more about candida, lets dig into testing. Specifically, how you should and shouldnt test for candida.

Some Of The Reasons For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

1. Emotional stress, typically related to grief or loss of a loved one, Marital stress, loss of a job or worrying about a health problem.

2. High Viral/Bacterial/ Mold Biotoxin Load-Because some people develop chronic fatigue syndrome after having a viral infection, researchers question whether some viruses might trigger the disorder. Suspicious viruses include the Epstein-Barr virus, human herpes virus Epstein Barr Virus, Fibromyalgia, CMV, Mycoplasma, Hepatitis C, Herpes, H.pylori, E.Coli, Pseudomonas, Salmonella

3. Toxic Body Burden-We are exposed to more environmental toxins on a daily basis than ever before in history. Even the simplest of daily routines can expose one to several common pollutants found in the water we drink, food we eat, and air we breathe. While our liver, kidneys and lymphatic system play a major role in removing biologically harmful compounds, our bodies have not evolved to deal with the growing number of toxins we unknowingly interact with every day.

When chemicals enter the body, then can bind to human tissue proteins causing a variety of chronic health problems such as diabetes, autoimmune disease, MS, inflammatory disease, hormone imbalances and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition to binding to human proteins, they easily overwhelm our Detoxification system causing stress to the liver and toxin overload. This happens when your body has taken in more toxins than it can process.

Try A Variety Of Relaxation Approaches

  • Keep your focus here and now: Try to live through your senses, not just your head. The more mindful you are, the more this will help to reduce your cortisol levels.
  • Take a break in nature: This can not only reduce your stress hormones, but also boosts natural killer cells that increase your immunity.
  • Enjoy regular touch: Through hugs, making love or enjoying a massage. Enjoyable physical contact triggers the release of oxytocin, which has calming impacts.

Dont:

  • Persist with meditation if its not working for you: Try visualization or listening to soothing music with your eyes closed. Chanting for just 12 minutes a day can also reduce stress levels and lower inflammation in people who are stressed.
  • Slouch: Instead strike a power pose. Try the victory pose and the wonder woman pose . Research from Harvard University shows that these kinds of poses, drop your cortisol and raise your testosterone, so you feel more in control and more able to handle risks and tricky situations. Amy Cuddy, who is an expert in this area, gives a fantastic Ted talk about the impact of body language on hormones and emotional states.

Read Also: What Causes Low Blood Pressure In Dementia Patients

A Long Road Back From Covid

Meanwhile, people like Cassandra Hernandez, the nurse, are simply trying to get better. More than a year after getting sick, she says, her brain is still foggy.

“We were at dinner and I forgot how to use a fork,” she says. “It was embarrassing.”

Even so, Hernandez says she’s improving slowly.

“Before this I was working on my master’s,” she says. “Now I can do basic math, addition and subtraction, I can read at a fifth-grade level. I’m still working hard every day.”

Hernandez has been working with Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, chair of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at UT Health and director of the COVID-19 recovery clinic.

Verduzco-Gutierrez says her practice used to revolve around people recovering from strokes and traumatic brain injuries. Now she spends some days seeing only patients recovering from COVID-19.

The most common complaint is fatigue, Verduzco-Gutierrez says. But these patients also frequently experience migraine headaches, forgetfulness, dizziness and balance issues, she says.

Some of these patients may never recover fully, Verduzco-Gutierrez says. But she’s hopeful for Hernandez.

“She’s made so much improvement and I would love for her to go back to nursing,” Verduzco-Gutierrez says. “But again, we don’t know what happens with this disease.”

End Of Life Dementia Care And Covid

How Does Depression Cause Dementia 2021

Older adults and people with serious underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Older adults also have the highest rates of dementia. Given the risks that older adults face from both COVID-19 and dementia, its important to understand how to protect yourself and your loved one. Find more information about dementia and COVID-19 from the CDC.

When a dementia like Alzheimers disease is first diagnosed, if everyone understands that there is no cure, then plans for the end of life can be made before thinking and speaking abilities fail and the person with Alzheimers can no longer legally complete documents like advance directives.

End-of-life care decisions are more complicated for caregivers if the dying person has not expressed the kind of care he or she would prefer. Someone newly diagnosed with Alzheimers disease might not be able to imagine the later stages of the disease.

Read Also: Andrea Mitchell Drunk

Is Pots More Common In Certain People

There are no established risk factors for POTS. However, it is known to run in families, so it could have a genetic component. Researchers have also established a link between POTS and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome . So if you have one of these conditions, you might also have the other.

A big group of those diagnosed with POTS is young women and teens. However, this doesnt mean they are more likely to develop this condition.

What Is Vascular Dementia

Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. It’s caused when decreased blood flow damages brain tissue. Blood flow to brain tissue may be reduced by a partial blockage or completely blocked by a blood clot.

Symptoms of vascular dementia may develop gradually, or may become apparent after a stroke or major surgery, such as heart bypass surgery or abdominal surgery.

Dementia and other related diseases and conditions are hard to tell apart because they share similar signs and symptoms. Although vascular dementia is caused by problems with blood flow to the brain, this blood flow problem can develop in different ways. Examples of vascular dementia include:

  • Mixed dementia. This type occurs when symptoms of both vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s exist.
  • Multi-infarct dementia. This occurs after repeated small, often “silent,” blockages affect blood flow to a certain part of the brain. The changes that occur after each blockage may not be apparent, but over time, the combined effect starts to cause symptoms of impairment. Multi-infarct dementia is also called vascular cognitive impairment.

Researchers think that vascular dementia will become more common in the next few decades because:

Recommended Reading: Mri Alzheimer’s Vs Normal

Drug Companies Use The Urine Of Pregnant Mares

Natural estrogen is not patentable. So, the Wyeth Pharmaceutical Company developed Premarin. Premarin stands for pregnant mares urine. Pregnant horses contribute their urine for the purpose of extracting estrogen-like components. Women take these pills made up of these components.

The problems with Premarin use are multiple. First, they contain estrogen that is natural to horses not humans. These estrogens are possibly riskier and more cancer causing.

In addition, women take Premarin in pill form by mouth. In this form, estrogen causes increased risk of blood clotting. This is because the liver must process oral estrogen. This processing results in increased production of clotting factors. Increased clotting factors result in an increased tendency to have heart attacks and strokes. This showed up in older women in the results of the Womens Health Initiative, a large study conducted by the National Institutes of Health.

Autoimmune Disease A Cause For Fatigue Symptoms

What Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Another thing that can strike at any age is autoimmune disease. This means that your body is attacking itself.

Hashimotos thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease where your body attacks its own thyroid gland and gradually can destroy it. This results in fatigue symptoms in addition to many others such as weight gain, joint pain and constipation.

As you age autoimmune diseases are more common and a major cause of fatigue.

It is essential to discover the underlying cause of this autoimmune process. Tests for gluten sensitivity or reactivated Epstein Barr Viral infection will tell if these are the underlying causes.

Once you have the results, treatment can begin. This will calm the autoimmune process and prevent the thyroid gland from deteriorating further. Medications and supplements can also calm the autoimmune process. However, sometimes you will need to take thyroid replacement hormone because the autoimmune process has destroyed so much of the thyroid gland.

Also Check: What Color Ribbon Is For Dementia

What Are The Most Serious Side Effects Of Gabapentin

Serious long-term effects are possible when taking gabapentin and may include: 1,4

  • Tremors.
  • Aggression.
  • Temporary amnesia.

Those with a history of kidney disease may be subject to gabapentin toxicity, since this drug is substantially excreted through the kidneys.

Children between the ages of 3 and 12 may be prone to mood changes, onset of aggressive behavior, impaired concentration, hyperactive behavior, and changes in academic performance when taking gabapentin.7

Suicidal ideation is a rare but extremely serious side effects of gabapentin. You should seek help immediately if:4

  • You have new or worsened depression or anxiety.
  • You are suffering from panic attacks.
  • You are having manic episodes.
  • You are having intrusive thoughts about dying or suicide.
  • You experience any other unusual changes in your mood or behavior.

Fatigue Linked To Health Problems

A 2008 study conducted by Columbia University found that adults aged 65 and older who suffered from fatigue were also more likely to suffer from joint problems, urinary incontinence, hearing problems, depression, and social isolation. While common, the researchers asserted that lack of energy and persistent fatigue should not be viewed as normal and can also be associated with heart disease, kidney problems, pulmonary issues, as well as arthritis and anemia.

You May Like: Does Diet Coke Cause Alzheimer’s

The Link Between Alzheimer’s Disease Weakness And Fatigue

Although there certainly seems to be a link between cognitive memory decline and fatigue, various studies have concluded that there is no link between amyloid accumulation and the development of memory decline seen in Alzheimer’s Disease.

If you are unfamiliar with the term “amyloid,” these are the misformed proteins that naturally accumulate in the brain as you age and are believed to be the main cause of mental aging and gradual decline in concentration. When other conditions like hypertension or strokes occur, the rate of these proteins forming in the brain increases, and Alzheimer’s disease will manifest.

Nevertheless, even if there is no direct connection between the level of amyloid plaques and the level of fatigue a patient will experience, it is incorrect to say there is no association at all. Patients with Alzheimer’s will typically have degenerations in numerous locations throughout the brain and as this occurs, patients will have a drop in a number of different important chemicals in the brain that can lead to depression. One of the major symptoms of depression is also fatigue and generalized weakness.

Conventional Medical System Approach To Fatigue Symptoms

Do you feel old? Beware: The more you sense your age, the ...

Men typically say they feel tired. While women tend to say they are depressed or anxious.

The most frustrating thing for people is their interaction with the conventional medical system. When a patient complains of fatigue symptoms, often the approach is different for men than women. An educational paper for doctors written by the American Association of Family Practice states men typically say they feel tired, whereas women say they feel depressed or anxious. In a very typical scenario for fatigue symptoms, the doctor prescribes an anti-depressant medication to help a woman with her fatigue symptoms. This, of course, hardly helps if she is not depressed. Here are some statistics on fatigue symptoms:

  • They account for 500 million patient visits a year and rarely is a cure found.
  • 38% of US workers and 7-45% of the general population are fatigued.
  • In results of the 2006 NAHANES , only 20% of respondents in the United States say they feel energetic or fresh. In fact, 80% feel average, tired, or exhausted.

Recommended Reading: Alzheimer’s Purple Ribbon

Lewy Body Dementia In Detail

When media mogul Ted Turner announced during a TV interview in late September 2018 that he had Lewy body dementia, it was likely the first time that many viewers heard of this disease. Turner himself was a little hazy on the details of his diagnosis.

Its a mild case of what people have as Alzheimers. Its similar to that but not nearly as bad, Turner told the journalist Ted Koppel.

In fact, similar to Alzheimers disease and other types of dementia, Lewy body dementia causes a severe loss of cognitive ability that interferes with a persons everyday activities.

Risk factors for Lewy body dementia include older age, having Parkinsons disease, and having a condition called REM sleep behavior disorder, which causes people to physically act out vivid, sometimes violent, dreams in their sleep.

Unlike in Alzheimers disease, memory loss may not be among the first symptoms of Lewy body dementia, although it may develop as the disease progresses. Common symptoms of Lewy body dementia include hallucinations, alternating periods of alertness and confusion, and movement disorders that affect walking.

Many of the medications used for Alzheimers disease can also be used to treat Lewy body dementia, but there is no cure for this potentially life-shortening disease.

Learn More About Lewy Body Dementia

How We Treat Chronic Fatigue At Flourish Clinic

At Flourish Clinic, we take a 4-step approach to treating chronic fatigue. The four steps we employ are:

  • Identify and treat hidden gut infections.
  • Balance your stress hormones.
  • Uncover hidden toxins making you sick and tired.
  • Candida overgrowth would fall under step two of our fatigue protocols. But as I said, candida overgrowth is just not as common as you think it is. I see SIBO as a cause of hidden gut issues far more often than candida.

    If proper lab testing confirms you have candida overgrowth, then it needs to be treated in order for you to regain your energy. Just be sure youve diagnosed it properly. Use the laboratory tests I recommended in this article.

    Ok, now you know whether candida really is contributing to your fatigue!

    Now, I want to hear from you!

    How did you diagnose candida overgrowth?

    How has candida affected your energy levels?

    Leave your answers in the comments section below!

    Also Check: Dementia Awareness Ribbon

    What Causes Sundowners Syndrome

    Some studies suggest that as many as 20% of Alzheimer’s patients experience worsening confusion, agitation, and anxiety beginning in the afternoon or evening. Again, doctors do not fully understand sundowners syndrome or its causes, but some potential triggers have been identified. Research suggests that contributing factors may include the following:

    • Sensory deprivation or overload
    • Unmet physical needs
    • Limited mobility or social isolation
    • Increased stress levels
    • Unfamiliar environment or unexpected change
    • Disrupted circadian rhythm, sleep deprivation

    Is it Sundowners Syndrome or Delirium?

    When it comes to treating and managing sundowning symptoms, the first step is to confirm that it is, in fact, sundowners syndrome and not delirium. Delirium is a medical condition that results in mental confusion and changes in attention span, perception, mood, and activity level. Though delirium is a stand-alone medical condition, people with dementia are highly susceptible to it.

    The best way to tell whether your loved one is suffering from delirium or sundowners syndrome is to look at the timing. Delirium sets in quickly over the course of days or weeks rather than months or years, and its associated confusion may fluctuate throughout the day instead of along a predictable late-afternoon or early-evening timeline.

    Common Symptoms Of Sundowners Syndrome

    I’m pregnant and have extreme fatigue that affects my ability to function. Why? What can I do?

    In the early stages of sundowners disease, symptoms may be subtle, inconsistent, and difficult to notice. Early signs of sundowners syndrome include restlessness and agitation, irritability, confusion, disorientation, suspiciousness, and becoming demanding. As the condition progresses, these symptoms become more pronounced and more regular.

    At their peak, sundowning symptoms typically develop in the late afternoon, and they can go long into the night. Some of the most common symptoms of sundowning include the following:

    • Anger
    • Rocking
    • Trouble Sleeping

    When it comes to sundowning, the timing of onset varies from one patient to the next and symptoms can often interfere with sleep. Sleep deprivation can then trigger ongoing episodes of sundowning while simultaneously contributing to other symptoms of dementia.

    Read Also: Progressive Aphasia Dementia

    Difficulty Finding The Right Words

    Another early symptom of dementia is struggling to communicate thoughts. A person with dementia may have difficulty explaining something or finding the right words to express themselves. Having a conversation with a person who has dementia can be difficult, and it may take longer than usual to conclude.

    RELATED ARTICLES

    Most Popular