Dementia Research
Dementia is a gradual loss in mental ability in which memory is impaired, and the person is unable to concentrate long enough to think, pay attention or make a decision. This can happen to a young person who has had a debilitating disease or severe injury, but it usually happens to people in advancing age beginning about age sixty. Although as people age there is gradual loss in some aspects of memory, dementia is not a normal part of aging. People with advancing age may not be able to learn as fast, their short term memory may become impaired, and they may forget names, but they are still able to perform a normal lifestyle. The fact that memory and learning ability becomes impaired is not the same as the extent of the decline from dementia which gets to the point that the person is not able to function in day to day activities.
Alzheimer's is one of the major causes of dementia. Causes of the disease are not known and there is no cure, but there are some drugs as directed under a doctor's care that may be beneficial in slowing the progress of the disease. Although there have been many food supplements and drugs presented as helpful, most have been worthless. Recent research indicates that a healthy lifestyle of physical exercise, mental exercise and proper nutrition will be extremely beneficial to prevent Alzheimer's or slow its progress. This healthy lifestyle will not only be beneficial in prevention and control of Alzheimer's, it will benefit other conditions that cause dementia. In a recent study in 2004 at John Hopkins, people who took 500 to 1000 milligrams daily of vitamin C and up to 1000 IU's of vitamin E had a 78 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's than the ones who had not taken the vitamins. In a Dutch study, people who each day had taken 23 IU's of vitamin E had 43 percent lower risk of getting the disease than the ones who had not taken the vitamin E. The Dutch study indicated the vitamins were from food and not from supplements. Many other studies have indicated that reducing total intake of calories not only adds years to life, it also protects the body from many serious diseases and complications. Proper nutrition of a healthy lifestyle means to eat no refined glucose or carbohydrates, eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, cold water fish, and sprouted grain bread. Special foods and supplements are plant foods, ground flax seed mixed in water, soy milk or fruit juice, multivitamins and turmeric. Total calories per day should be held to 2000 for men and 1800 for women. Physical exercise should be thirty minutes, three to six times per week. Mental exercise could be working cross word puzzles, reading books or articles that require concentration, or studying something new that makes you think. Your mind is similar to other parts of the body: if you quit walking and spent time sitting in a wheel chair, it wouldn't be long before your legs would be useless. Your social life and interaction with family and friends will also be beneficial for a healthy lifestyle in prevention and treatment with dementia.
Successive small strokes are the second major cause of dementia. The strokes are mild and leave few, if any, symptoms, and rarely result in the paralysis that occurs in severe strokes. However, the strokes slowly destroy brain tissue resulting from the blocking of blood supply blocked from areas of the brain. Most people afflicted with this condition have had high blood pressure or diabetes which causes damage to the blood vessels. Most other causes of dementia are a small part of the major causes, like Pick's disease, AIDS and Parkinson's.
Although dementia has no cure, a complete examination should be made by a doctor for the cause of dementia. The doctor may then prescribe drugs that may delay progression of the dementia and some of its symptoms. In all cases a healthy lifestyle as outlined above will benefit almost all conditions, but all procedures should be checked with your health provider.
