Alzheimer’s disease, a devastating neuro-degenerative condition that causes dementia, affects more than 30 million people worldwide and remains a disease with no cure.
Ahead of World Alzheimer’s Day on Wednesday, here are five things to know about a disease that was brought to the world’s attention by afflicted figures like the late US President Ronald Reagan and British fantasy author Terry Pratchett.
What is Alzheimer’s?
German doctor Alois Alzheimer was credited with recognizing the disease in 1906, who first noticed plaques and tangles in the brain of a dementia patient who had died.
Alzheimer’s gradually destroys brain tissue, taking away people’s memory, leaving them distracted and sometimes unable to perform everyday tasks.
It is also associated with dramatic mood swings and trouble communicating.
number
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common form.
Alzheimer’s represents 60 to 70 percent of dementia cases, or more than 30 million.
As life expectancy increases, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s is increasing in low- and middle-income countries. The WHO expects the number of people with Alzheimer’s to triple by 2050.
This will increase the burden on families and health care systems.
Alzheimer’s and dementia are among the main causes of problems with mobility and dependence for the elderly.
those reasons
Alzheimer’s is by far the most common form of dementia, but little is known about what causes it or how it progresses.
In Alzheimer’s disease, two key proteins — tau and amyloid-beta — build up in tangles and plaques — known together as aggregates — that cause brain cells to die and the brain to shrink.
Little is known about the reason the proteins appear or the link between them.
In a new study in 2021, researchers said that toxic protein clusters quickly reach different parts of the brain and then accumulate over the course of decades.
treatment
Despite decades of research, the difficulty in identifying the exact cause of Alzheimer’s has hindered the development of treatments or cures for the disease.
The biggest progress over the past two decades came in 2021 when the United States approved a drug called EduHelm, the first new drug against the disease in nearly two decades and the first to address cognitive decline.
However, it has limited effectiveness and medical opinion is divided on its therapeutic benefits.
risk factors, prevention
According to the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), the main risk factor for Alzheimer’s is age: the likelihood of developing it increases after age 65, sharply after 80.
Diabetes and high blood pressure, when left untreated in middle age, are also associated with disease prevalence, although the medical community has not been able to explain the link.
A sedentary lifestyle is another risk factor, as well as the kind of headache that boxers and rugby players experience.
Studying, stimulating work, and an active social life all seem to delay the appearance and severity of the first symptoms.
This is because they create a “cognitive reserve” that temporarily compensates for lost brain cells, reflecting the brain’s plasticity and its ability to adapt.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.
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