Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of Dementia, the name for a group of symptoms that commonly include problems with memory, thinking, problem-solving, language, and perception.
In the UK, there are more than 520,000 living with dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease and around 47 million people living with it globally. That number is projected to triple by the year 2050 as the population ages but as research into the disease continues, a study published in The Lancet states that one-third of cases of dementia worldwide could potentially be prevented through better management of lifestyle factors.
What Causes Alzheimer?
Alzheimer’s affects the connections between the brain’s billions of nerve cells. This happens when proteins build up and form abnormal structures, known as plaques and tangles, leaving nerve cells to eventually die and leading to a loss of brain tissue. These plaques and neurofibrillary tangles cause brain inflammation and there is increasing evidence that states that free radical-induced oxidative stress is also contributing to the progression and worsening of the disease. As more brain cells become affected, there’s also a decrease in chemical messengers, neurotransmitters, which send messages, or signals, between brain cells. Although scientists don’t fully understand what causes Alzheimer’s in most people, the major genetic risk factor is a gene called the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4 allele, and targeting that gene could prevent less than 1 in 10 cases – or about 7%.
What Are The Symptoms?
The first signs of Alzheimer’s start slowly and silently, up to two decades before the characteristic symptoms of memory loss and confusion appear, when the amyloid-beta protein begins to collect into plaques in the brain.
As well as memory difficulties, people with Alzheimer’s are also likely to develop problems with thinking, reasoning, language, or perception such as speech – they may repeat themselves or struggle to follow a conversation – seeing things in three dimensions and judging distances (visuospatial skills), among others. In the later stages, some people start to believe things that are untrue (having delusions), and less often, they see or hear things that are not really there through hallucinations and being much less aware of what is happening around them. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that older people who have less slow-wave sleep – the deep sleep you need to consolidate memories and to wake up feeling refreshed – have higher levels of the brain protein tau. Elevated tau is a second protein hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and has been linked to brain damage and cognitive decline. The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggest that poor-quality sleep in later life could be related to deteriorating brain health. If future research bears out their findings, sleep monitoring may be an easy and affordable way to screen earlier for Alzheimer’s disease. On average, people with Alzheimer’s disease live for 8–10 years after the first symptoms.
What Are The Risk Factors?
There are many risk factors that you can’t change. The first is age and although most people with Alzheimer’s develop it after the age of 65, there are over 40,000 people living with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and about twice as many women as men over 65 with it.
Lifestyle factors play a huge part and The Lancet research noted how a third of dementia cases could be prevented. There is currently no drug treatment to prevent or cure dementia but reducing high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, avoiding or treating hearing loss in mid-life, not smoking, getting physical exercise, and reducing depression and social isolation later in life could theoretically prevent 1 in 3 cases.
Three new risk factors identified by experts – excessive drinking in mid-life, suffering a head injury in mid-life, and exposure to polluted air in later life – were linked with six percent of all dementia cases. Individuals aged between the ages of 40 to 74 are invited for free NHS Health Checks, which takes place every five years at the GP office where you’re registered to.
How Can Medical Cannabis Help With Alzheimer’s Disease?
Research has now found that removing the plaques isn’t a viable option because these proteins have other functions, but neutralising the free radicals and the inflammation is, and both THC and CBD are neuroprotective antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties. Studies show that CBD not only stops the plaque’s ability to induce inflammation but in a paper titled Molecular Targets of Cannabidiol in Neurological Disorders, it found that it can also reduce the plaques themselves by activating one of its many targets, the PPAR-γ receptor, which improves brain cell survival.
In a study at the University of Bonn in 2017, the researchers treated old mice with a low dose of THC, the main psychoactive component in cannabis, and found it improved the animals’ ability to learn and remember.
Overall, medical cannabis also helps to manage some of the behavioural symptoms of dementia such as agitation, aggression, appetite, and sleep.
What Other Lifestyle Changes Can Help With Alzheimer’s?
Moving about keeps the brain healthy, so doing more of the activities that you enjoy and that get your heart pumping. Stay mentally active, such as reading, crosswords, singing, or playing an instrument. Keeping socially active by connecting with other people can be rewarding and beneficial for mental health and eat a diet rich in antioxidants. In a paper titled Alzheimer’s Disease, Inflammation, and the Role of Antioxidants, states that Vitamin E and vitamin C can possibly ensnare the dementia pathogenesis in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Finally, up your intake of mushrooms, which may reduce the risk for mild cognitive impairment, or M.C.I., a type of memory impairment that is often a precursor of Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, animal studies have found that lion’s mane mushroom may help protect against Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative brain disease that causes progressive memory loss. Research has shown the mushroom to reduce symptoms of memory loss in mice, and prevent the neuronal damage caused by the amyloid-beta plaques.
Further Reading
How and where to safely buy RSO medical cannabis oil online
Introduction to Medical Cannabis
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