Does cardiovascular disease cause Alzheimer’s disease? There is no definitive answer to this question yet. However, there is good circumstantial evidence that heart and vascular risk factors are associated with memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have been consistent in showing an association of cardiovascular disease with impaired cognitive function and with Alzheimer’s disease. But whether this is a result of common risk factors or whether cardiovascular disease directly influences the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease is not clear. One relatively strong risk factor for both Alzheimer’s disease and for heart disease is having the E4 form of the Apolipoprotein gene. We discussed this last week and the link here may be that E4 influences cholesterol and hence adds to cardiovascular disease. The other strongly related cardiovascular risk factor that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease is type 2 diabetes. Diabetes often […]
Memory
There are effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Don’t wait for the magic elixir that may never come. The first thing to go is short-term memory. Treatment involves first understanding the changes in your memory and whether they are different from changes due to aging. A thorough memory assessment should help you understand, in detail, the strengths and weaknesses of your memory. Do you remember better visual or verbal information? Do you benefit from hints to improve your memory? Even if you cannot recall new information, are you able to recognize it? Are your other brain skills still sharp? Answers to these questions will help you decide on the strategies that will work best for you. Use external memory supports. For example, if you are struggling with arithmetic but can still do a checkbook, you may wish to use a calculator […]
Dementia is a general term that is often misunderstood. Dementia refers to mental deterioration to the point that one can no longer do higher level mental tasks like doing a checkbook, using a computer, or preparing a meal. In more severe forms of dementia, one may no longer be able to tend to personal needs such as bathing, toileting, or changing clothes. In other words, dementia refers to mental decline where one can no longer function independently (i.e., needs at least some level of external care). Dementia refers to the severity of the mental deterioration. It is not a state of being. Dementia is caused by a loss of skills (i.e., brain function). There are many possible causes of dementia. For example, many who develop a progressive form of dementia have a heavy burden of amyloid plaques and tau tangles. […]
People come to me to determine if they have significant changes in memory. However, memory is a multifaceted series of skills — for example, knowing how to drive, knowing your birth date, knowing a body of facts, knowing how to get places, etc. The most critical type of memory to the understanding of most dementias is short-term memory. Short-term memory is not a time but rather a process whereby new experiences or information are stored for later use. For example, someone with a good short-term memory can read a book once and recite all of the facts. Someone with an average short-term memory may need to review the material a few times. Someone with a poor short term-memory may have to review the information 50 times. Short-term memory loss is the hallmark feature of Alzheimer’s disease. We owe much of […]
This is the first of three articles that will outline the typical progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s unfolds over many years, probably decades. The time between current medical detection and death is nearly 10 years. However, there are earlier stages that unfold over the course of at least a decade before diagnosis can be made. There is so much you can do to protect your own future at this stage. The key is that the first change occurs in the ability to learn new things — short-term memory. At first, the changes in memory cause inconveniences that are hard to distinguish from the changes in memory that result from normal aging. Consider those ubiquitous senior moments. You forget where you park your car. You momentarily can’t think of your phone number. You drive past the turn to your home. We […]
