Is There A Way For Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease?
Alzheimer’s disease is a truly complex and challenging medical disorder. The disease slowly develops through the years, and it appears to be caused or brought about by a number of factors, which can either heighten or decrease the person’s chances of developing one.
The common factors that lead to the development of the disease include life history, genetic composition, environmental factors, and current lifestyle. As most doctors and medical researchers will agree, we can’t control many of the risk factors, however we can control some of these. Is there a way for preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s disease?
Symptoms Of This Chronic, Progressively Worsening Disease
The disease has a long list of symptoms, both behavioral and cognitive. The disease is characterized as a chronic, slowly progressing disorder that’s accompanied by problems such as the lack of concentration, judgment, disorientation, physical coordination, sleeplessness, repetition of some words and movements, the propensity to wander or get lost, dramatic personality changes, loss of interest in grooming or personal care, agitation and depression.
Can The Disease Be Prevented?
Most health experts will agree that Alzheimer’s disease has currently no cure. The good thing is that recent research has made headway in its efforts to determine treatment methods which can possibly delay the onset of symptoms, as well as prevent it altogether. Prevention generally involves making healthy lifestyle choices, and concentration should be focused in four major areas: Diet and nutrition, social interaction, physical exercise, and mental exercise.
You need to have a diet that consists of fruits, vegetables, as well as foods that contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which help keep the brain healthy. You also need to employ a regular physical exercise program. The exercise program should involve both strength conditioning and cardiovascular exercises, which improve brain function as well as increase the flow of blood to the brain.
Mental exercises also should be done regularly, to help keep the brain active. You can do this through learning new things and reading a wide array of literature. Keeping the mind active actually creates new connections between the nerve cells and the brain. Social interaction is also a key factor.
Connecting with other people helps in stimulating parts of the brain that aren’t frequently used, especially when you’re alone or isolated. Additional medical research has also concluded that reducing the risk for diabetes and heart disease also aids in actually reducing the chances of getting Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.
Most health experts agree that preventing Alzheimer’s is simply all about risk reduction. Since Alzheimer’s can’t be fully prevented today, even though we can’t be able to fully protect ourselves, it still helps if we reduce the risks as much as possible.
Getting a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and omega-3 fatty acids, helps strengthen the body’s defenses against diseases and infections. Having a regular physical and mental exercise program also aids in stimulating the body’s muscles and nerves, and also helps to keep us fit and firm, as well as improves our demeanor and self-esteem.
By delaying the onset of symptoms by just five years, the quality of life, as well as the life expectancy of patients, will surely improve. Currently, government agencies such as National Institute of Aging, the US Department of Health and Human Services and other private-sector organizations are supporting further research on new approaches for preventing or delaying the onset of the disease.