Dementia and Alzheimer's
Dementia is a general term used to refer to the impaired cognitive ability, to think or recollect. Although it is observed that older adults are most affected by dementia, it is not a normal part of ageing.
With age, there can be some memory loss, such as misplacing keys occasionally, or finding it hard to remember a word but can recall it later. However, normally, old memories, along with experiences and knowledge built up over the years do stay intact.
The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is typically diagnosed using neuroimaging, where amyloid plagues and neurofibrillary tangles are observed.
There is however, no scientific confirmation on what exactly leads to Alzheimer’s.
It is thought that there are probably a combination of factors that leads to Alzheimer’s, such as lifestyle and environment. The environment can be a significant impact, such as lead levels in the air.
Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson, Director of the Institute for Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto believes the change to use of unleaded petrol now potentially has helped reduce risks of dementia.
Some MDs (doctors of medicine) have seen encouraging results from tackling a combination of factors, including nutrition (e.g. blood sugar, vitamin issues), physical state (e.g. hormones, cholesterol, toxin levels) and sleep to help Alzheimer’s patients improve their cognitive abilities.