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HomeExclusiveIs It Possible To Get Alzheimer's As A Teenager

Is It Possible To Get Alzheimer’s As A Teenager

Us Pointer Is Accepting Eligible Participants

It Is Possible To Stop Or Reverse Dementia

Participating in a clinical study is a great opportunity. To participate in the U.S. POINTER clinical trial, you must fall within a certain age group. If youre between 60 and 79, you could be eligible. Exercising less than three times a week also is an eligibility requirement.

Additional participation requirements include risk factors for future memory loss. If someone in your family suffers with memory loss, then you may be eligible to participate. Other risk factors that could provide entrance into the study include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar. Additional criteria are required to participate, but those wont be revealed until screening.

Can Cognitive Training Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease

Cognitive training involves structured activities designed to enhance memory, reasoning, and speed of processing. There is encouraging but inconclusive evidence that a specific, computer-based cognitive training may help delay or slow age-related cognitive decline. However, there is no evidence that it can prevent or delay Alzheimer’s-related cognitive impairment.

Studies show that cognitive training can improve the type of cognition a person is trained in. For example, older adults who received 10 hours of practice designed to enhance their speed and accuracy in responding to pictures presented briefly on a computer screen got faster and better at this specific task and other tasks in which enhanced speed of processing is important. Similarly, older adults who received several hours of instruction on effective memory strategies showed improved memory when using those strategies. The important question is whether such training has long-term benefits or translates into improved performance on daily activities like driving and remembering to take medicine.

Your Personality As A Teen May Predict Your Risk Of Dementia

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Oct. 17, 2019 — Could your personality as a teen forecast your risk for dementia a half-century later?

Very possibly, say researchers, who found that dementia risk is lower among seniors who were calm, mature and energetic high schoolers.

“Being calm and mature as teen were each associated with roughly a 10% reduction in adult dementia risk,” said study co-author Kelly Peters, principal researcher at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, D.C. “And vigor was associated with a 7% reduction.”

The finding has its origins in the 1960s, when more than 82,000 students in roughly 1,200 U.S. high schools took a personality test. More than 50 years later, their personality traits were compared to dementia diagnoses.

While Peters said there’s plenty of evidence that personality changes near the time of a dementia diagnosis, the lingering question has been whether personality or some aspects of it actually causes dementia.

“That’s the big question,” she said. “Is it only that personality can be affected by dementia? Is it just an expression of the disease?” By focusing on teens who didn’t later develop dementia, Peters said, “this study really starts to tease that out.”

At an average age of 16, the students were assessed for 10 traits: calmness, vigor, organization, self-confidence, maturity/responsibility, leadership, impulsivity, desire for social interaction, social sensitivity, and artistic and intellectual refinement.

JAMA Psychiatry

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Problems With Vision And Spatial Awareness

Alzheimers disease can sometimes cause vision problems, making it difficult for people to judge distances between objects. The person may find it hard to distinguish contrast and colors or judge speed or distance.

These vision problems combined can affect the persons ability to drive.

Normal aging also affects eyesight, so it is essential to have regular checkups with an eye doctor.

What Can You Do Today

Is it possible to get a teenager to go to bed?

Use it or lose it, the experts contend. The brain, just like a muscle in our body, can atrophy if we dont use it.

Perhaps consider a digital sabbatical like Baratunde Thurston did which was famously published in Fast Company last summer. Although its not easy or ideal for most of us who are plugged in due to our jobs and the needs of the modern world, we should, at the very least unplug during the weekend. Work can and should wait. Facebook can wait. If we focus instead on having real conversations, reading books, getting out into nature, and disconnecting from technology, we will be taking care of our brain health and our emotional health as well.

Have you or a loved one grown too dependent on technology? What can you do to encourage more real conversations and less texting, more reading and less video games? Please discuss your thoughts in the comments below.

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When Someone You Love Has Alzheimer Disease

You might feel sad or angry or both if someone you love has Alzheimer disease. You might feel nervous around the person, especially if he or she is having trouble remembering important things or can no longer take care of himself or herself.

You might not want to go visit the person, even though your mom or dad wants you to. You are definitely not alone in these feelings. Try talking with a parent or another trusted adult. Just saying what’s on your mind might help you feel better. You also may learn that the adults in your life are having struggles of their own with the situation.

If you visit a loved one who has Alzheimer disease, try to be patient. He or she may have good days and bad days. It can be sad if you can’t have fun in the same ways together. Maybe you and your grandmother liked to go to concerts. If that’s no longer possible, maybe bring her some wonderful music and listen together. It’s a way to show her that you care and showing that love is important, even if her memory is failing.

You’ve Been Experiencing Memory Changes

If you’re developing dementia, one of the first symptoms you might experience is a change in your ability to remember things, which might include forgetting what you just got up to do, or losing your train of thought mid-sentence.

“Signs of early-onset dementia include short-term memory changes, often described as an ‘inability to keep a thought in your head,'”Dr. Faisal Tawwab, MD, tells Bustle. So, if your words escape you, or you’ve suddenly become super forgetful, take note.

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Can Eating Certain Foods Or Diets Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease

People often wonder if a certain diet or specific foods can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The recent NASEM review of research did not find enough evidence to recommend a certain diet to prevent cognitive decline or Alzheimer’s. However, certain diets and healthy eating patterns have been associated with cognitive benefits. Studies of diets, such as the Mediterranean diet and the MIND dieta combination of the Mediterranean and DASH dietsare underway. Learn more about what we know about diet and the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.

For more information, read What Do We Know About Diet and Alzheimer’s Prevention?

How Do People Know They Have It

Catching Alzheimer’s 25 Years Earlier

The first sign of Alzheimer disease is an ongoing pattern of forgetting things. This starts to affect a person’s daily life. He or she may forget where the grocery store is or the names of family and friends. This stage may last for some time or get worse quickly, causing more severe memory loss and forgetfulness.

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You Struggle To Recall What You Just Read

Most dementia symptoms will have an affect on your memory, in some way, shape, or form. So it makes sense it can impact your ability to read â and remember what you just read â as well.

As Zerling says, many people with early-onset dementia find that they need to start taking notes while they’re reading, in order to remember what’s going on in the story.

Taking notes, of course, can be a good way to keep track or information, especially if you’re studying. And thus it isn’t a surefire sign of dementia. But if your note-taking is due to a newly developed memory problem, it may a symptom worth looking into.

What Will The Doctor Do

It can be hard for a doctor to diagnose Alzheimer disease because many of its symptoms can be like those of other conditions affecting the brain. The doctor will talk to the patient, find out about any medical problems the person has, and will examine him or her.

The doctor can ask the person questions or have the person take a written test to see how well his or her memory is working. Doctors also can use medical tests to take a detailed picture of the brain. They can study these images and look for signs of Alzheimer disease.

When a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer disease, the doctor may prescribe medicine to help with memory and thinking. The doctor also might give the person medicine for other problems, such as depression . Unfortunately, the medicines that the doctors have can’t cure Alzheimer disease they just help slow it down.

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Difficulty Completing Everyday Tasks

The person may have difficulty completing an otherwise familiar task. For example, they may find it hard to:

  • get to a grocery store, restaurant, or place of employment
  • follow the rules of a familiar game
  • prepare a simple meal

Sometimes, people need help with new or unfamiliar things as they get older, such as the settings on a new phone. However, this does not necessarily indicate a problem.

How Does Alzheimer’s Disease Affect The Brain

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Scientists continue to unravel the complex brain changes involved in Alzheimers disease. Changes in the brain may begin a decade or more before symptoms appear. During this very early stage of Alzheimers, toxic changes are taking place in the brain, including abnormal buildups of proteins that form amyloid plaques and tau tangles. Previously healthy neurons stop functioning, lose connections with other neurons, and die. Many other complex brain changes are thought to play a role in Alzheimers as well.

The damage initially appears to take place in the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex, which are parts of the brain that are essential in forming memories. As more neurons die, additional parts of the brain are affected and begin to shrink. By the final stage of Alzheimers, damage is widespread and brain tissue has shrunk significantly.

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Can Increasing Physical Activity Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease

Physical activity has many health benefits, such as reducing falls, maintaining mobility and independence, and reducing the risk of chronic conditions like depression, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Based on research to date, there’s not enough evidence to recommend exercise as a way to prevent Alzheimer’s dementia or mild cognitive impairment , a condition of mild memory problems that often leads to Alzheimer’s dementia.

Years of animal and human observational studies suggest the possible benefits of exercise for the brain. Some studies have shown that people who exercise have a lower risk of cognitive decline than those who don’t. Exercise has also been associated with fewer Alzheimer’s plaques and tangles in the brain and better performance on certain cognitive tests.

While clinical trials suggest that exercise may help delay or slow age-related cognitive decline, there is not enough evidence to conclude that it can prevent or slow MCI or Alzheimer’s dementia. One study compared high-intensity aerobic exercise, such as walking or running on a treadmill, to low-intensity stretching and balance exercises in 65 volunteers with MCI and prediabetes. After 6 months, researchers found that the aerobic group had better executive functionthe ability to plan and organizethan the stretching/balance group, but not better short-term memory.

Health Environmental And Lifestyle Factors

Research suggests that a host of factors beyond genetics may play a role in the development and course of Alzheimers. There is a great deal of interest, for example, in the relationship between cognitive decline and vascular conditions such as heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure, as well as conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Ongoing research will help us understand whether and how reducing risk factors for these conditions may also reduce the risk of Alzheimers.

A nutritious diet, physical activity, social engagement, and mentally stimulating pursuits have all been associated with helping people stay healthy as they age. These factors might also help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimers. Researchers are testing some of these possibilities in clinical trials.

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What Are Delusions & Hallucinations

Delusions

A delusion is a false belief or impression that is firmly held even though it is contradicted by reality and what is commonly held as true. There are delusions of paranoia, grandiose delusions, and somatic delusions.

People who are experiencing a delusion of paranoia might think that they are being followed when they are not or that secret messages are being sent only to them through media. Someone with a grandiose delusion will have an exaggerated sense of his or her importance. Somatic delusions are the belief that you have a terminal illness when you are healthy.

Hallucinations

A hallucination is a sensory perception in the absence of outside stimulus. That means seeing, hearing, feeling, or smelling something that isnt present. A person who is hallucinating might see things that dont exist or hear people talking when he or she is alone.

Delusions and hallucinations seem real to the person who is experiencing them.

Dementia In Younger People

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People whose symptoms started when they were under the age of 65 are often known as younger people with dementia or as having young-onset dementia. This is not for a biological reason, but is based on the fact that 65 was the usual age of retirement for many people.People sometimes use the terms early-onset dementia or working-age dementia. This information uses the term young-onset dementia.

Dementia is caused by a wide range of different diseases. This is similar for younger and older people , but there are important differences in how dementia affects younger people. These include the following:

  • A wider range of diseases cause young-onset dementia.
  • A younger person is much more likely to have a rarer form of dementia.
  • Younger people with dementia are less likely to have memory loss as one of their first symptoms.
  • Young-onset dementia is more likely to cause problems with movement, walking, co-ordination or balance.
  • Young-onset dementia is more likely to be inherited this affects up to 10% of younger people with dementia.
  • Many younger people with dementia dont have any other serious or long-term health conditions.
Understanding the genetics of dementia

Read more about the risk factors behind dementia that may be genetic or hereditary.

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Difficulty Determining Time Or Place

Losing track of dates and misunderstanding the passage of time as it occurs are also two common symptoms. Planning for future events can become difficult since they arent immediately occurring.

As symptoms progress, people with AD can become increasingly forgetful about where they are, how they got there, or why theyre there.

Support For Families And Alzheimer’s Disease Caregivers

Caring for a person with Alzheimers can have significant physical, emotional, and financial costs. The demands of day-to-day care, changes in family roles, and decisions about placement in a care facility can be difficult. NIA supports efforts to evaluate programs, strategies, approaches, and other research to improve the quality of care and life for those living with dementia and their caregivers.

Becoming well-informed about the disease is one important long-term strategy. Programs that teach families about the various stages of Alzheimers and about ways to deal with difficult behaviors and other caregiving challenges can help.

Good coping skills, a strong support network, and respite care are other things that may help caregivers handle the stress of caring for a loved one with Alzheimers. For example, staying physically active provides physical and emotional benefits.

Some caregivers have found that joining a support group is a critical lifeline. These support groups enable caregivers to find respite, express concerns, share experiences, get tips, and receive emotional comfort. Many organizations sponsor in-person and online support groups, including groups for people with early-stage Alzheimers and their families.

Read about this topic in Spanish. Lea sobre este tema en español.

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You’re Suddenly Bad At Making Decisions

Indecisiveness isn’t always a sign of dementia. Some folks just aren’t good at making up their mind, and that’s OK. But a sudden inability to plan and organize, in a way that negatively impacts your life, may indicate a problem with your “executive function.”

As Dr. Fillit says, “This covers our ability to plan, organize, focus, and reason. You might find it difficult to make decisions or to focus enough to complete tasks with multiple steps, such as cooking or getting dressed.”

If this problem is out of character for you, or seems to be getting worse, let a doctor know.

Can Digital Dementia Be Reversed

About Dementia

Current thinking seems to say it can. So that means that many of us, including kids who grew up with technology and those of us who adopted it in our later lives as part of living in the modern world, may not be destined to digital dementia indefinitely after. But if we are to reverse the damage, we must take an active rather than passive role in the health of our brains.

And we need to start right now.

So how can we do this? Manfred Spitzer asserts that all digital technology should be removed from classrooms. That seems unlikely. But, according to neurologist Dr. Carolyn Brockington from St. Lukes Roosevelt Medical Center in New York City, we can do other things simply by exercising our brains. For example,

1. Use Your Head. Retrieve information from your brain organically rather than automatically turning to Google to look up that actress you cant remember immediately. Sit there and concentrate until you can recall it.

2. Crack Open a Book. Thats right. Reading an actual book rather than a tablet has been shown to improve memory retention.

3. Learn a new language. Putting you outside your comfort zone helps your brain work harder, which makes you smarter.

4. Play a new instrument. Instruments require the use of both side of the brain like the piano or the guitar, for example, which help strengthen and balance it.

5. Get physical. Physical exercise increases blood flow and accelerates the transport of vital nutrients to your brain.

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