Your health: dementia

Not much is known about the origin of Alzheimer’s disease. In general you can say that everything that is bad for the brain increases the risk of Alzheimer’s. Genetic predisposition plays a role, but those who have had a severe concussion also have a slightly higher chance of developing the disease. Recently, it was proven that high blood pressure increases the risk of Alzheimer’s. Bad vessels are bad for the brain. It is also clear that a varied and not too fatty diet, little alcohol, not smoking and a lot of exercise reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s. In addition, there are indications that a healthy lifestyle delays the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

What Happens in Alzheimer’s?

The main features of the disease revolve around proteins: tau protein and amyloid. Everyone has amyloid in the brain, but it is soluble in healthy people and accumulates in Alzheimer’s patients. The amyloid has a toxic effect on surrounding brain cells, which cause them to die. Amyloid does not only deposit in the brain, but also in the walls of the blood vessels in the brain, which are also damaged as a result. The tau protein settles in nerve fibers, which can no longer function normally and die. At the beginning of the disease, this mainly happens in those parts of the brain that are essential for memory. Later, this process extends to the entire cerebral cortex and other functions also fall out. Patients have difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking. Modern Alzheimer’s drugs contain Cholinergic substances that slow down the disease process. Unfortunately, there is no real cure yet.Some characteristics of Alzheimer’s

• repeat the same questions
• loss of orientation (what day is it, where are my things?)
• can’t store new things in memory anymore
• memories of the past last the longest; hence the expression to become ‘kinds’.

How do you deal with an Alzheimer’s patient?

• Confront someone as little as possible with his or her mistakes.
• Avoid unnecessary crowds.
• Reduce visual stimuli.
• Provide structure in the day and continue to maintain habits.
• Try to boost your confidence.
• Don’t correct what goes wrong, but compliment what goes right.

Vascular dementia

Vascular dementia, also called multi-infarct dementia, has a clear cause: atherosclerosis. It is the same form of clogging of blood vessels that is also the cause of heart attacks, strokes and ‘shop windows’. Atherosclerosis can be prevented by paying attention to fat and overweight, by exercising a lot and not smoking. Have your blood pressure checked and treated if necessary and have yourself checked for diabetes and cholesterol.Characteristics of vascular dementia

If the blood vessels go bad, every organ suffers, including the brain. If a large blood vessel in the brain becomes blocked (stroke), a piece of brain tissue dies, causing certain functions such as talking or loss of control over an arm or leg. In vascular dementia, small vessels are damaged all over the brain, so that the brain functions worse in general. Patients with this form of dementia become especially sluggish; they appear apathetic, have difficulty moving and have difficulty walking. They do store information in memory, but it is then difficult to access it again.

memory policy

How is the diagnosis made? This usually happens after a physical examination (blood, urine), an extensive conversation and memory tests. Questions are also asked to the immediate family, in particular about the patient’s self-reliance. If the mental decline is severe enough and other factors can be ruled out, dementia may be suspected. Then further research is needed and is often referred to a memory clinic.

Memory clinics were created in the Netherlands when doctors could do more about dementia. For example, treatment with medication is possible on the basis of the precise diagnosis. Many memory clinics not only have specialists present in the field of diagnosis and treatment, but also for the guidance of the patient’s carer.