Why does dementia happen? Any known advances in medicine, gene therapy?

Rapid,

I think there will always be exceptions to the rule, right? I believe in eating healthy for the most part but we have seen even vegetarians like Linda McCartney and Steve Jobs get cancer.

My mom was an aerobic instructor for almost 20 years. She exercised 5 to 6 days a week. Sometimes teaching 3 classes a day. She taught weights afterward. I did too. She did not smoke, drink or do any drugs. She has vascular dementia. They did an ultrasound on her carotid artery, no plaque. They checked her heart valve, no plaque. They also checked the major artery in her leg, no plaque. When she was younger, she ate a LOT of low fat, diet type food and drank a LOT of diet Pepsi. Later in life, she stopped drinking tap water because of fluoride, and started drinking reverse osmosis water, she started eating food that wasn't processed and drank smoothies. Was she too late in changing her diet? My grandmother (moms mom) had the exact same problem (vascular dementia) and died at 93. She drank and smoked when younger but quit before I even remember. Mom & Grandma also had osteoporosis. Related?
Is it the food, toxins, pollution? Is it genetic? Scares me for my future....

I just hope that a cure for these horrible diseases can be found one day. They found something to stop Aids.
My mother had stage 3 Ovarian cancer in 2009 and its been 13 years. Had no relapses, a top notch Oncologist and not genetic. Her Braca test was negative; probably was caused by the use estrogen medication for menopause.

Catskie,

I believe you are right about toxins affecting our bodies. The rising cases of lymphoma from the pesticide Roundup is truly sad.

Our environment has changed and we are paying the price for it with our health.

So many medications are poison to the human body, brain included. Example-Someone takes a pill for 20 years then it's recalled for causing problems. The damage is already done to your body. You just never know what all the chemicals and pollutants are doing. Very scary

I definitely agree that people are living longer than previous centuries, that's a certainty. Maybe if we didn't have the pesticides, plastics, bad food additives, and other types of pollution; then people would be living even longer? There are too many factors involved at the same time in this era, to pin point a specific bad thing, diet and having a good one, seems to be critical in brain function.

The thing is pollution effects the lungs, but it doesn't happen quickly, it's the slow exposure to toxic pollutants and then later on in life people find out. I think the same is with poor diet, it's the gradual effects over a long time that are most likely linked to dementia. The Japanese are definitely doing something right, and I think that the diet

https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/japanese-population-projected-live-longer-without-dementia

@Ariadnee, Thank you for the suggestion for further information at the Wicking Center. I will take a look at it. Very good points about the 10% myth. I agree with you about the lack of developments in this area. I'm not sure, but it appears as if they pump far more into Cancer research than different types of dementia. Does this boil down to the big pharma? and where they thing the most amount of money is to be made?


I think Dementia needs much more awareness, especially the Alzheimer's the type that give people the most cognitive decline. I feel it's a topic many people misunderstand; up until recently that includes me. I think they need to start talking about it as openly as this forum does, when people are posting questions.

btw: I was sad to hear about Bruce Willis is diagnosed with Frontotemporal dementia. I watched his movies in the 80's, moonlighting..

I like your idea about screening early, they do it for other diseases, why not dementia? It appear they wait for people to have issues before looking into it. Really great points you've made, I can see you've put a great deal of thought into how it can be improved.

Lea,

Interesting article from NIH. Thanks for posting on this controversial topic. My husband takes a statin.

I asked our doctor about statins being a link to Alzheimer’s disease. She firmly believes that it’s more important to lower cholesterol levels than it is to be concerned about a related risk to Alzheimer’s disease. She says that the risk is relatively small and is not an overwhelming factor.

Alva that also is a common myth about most people dying at 34 or younger in medieval times. The problem is that factored in infant mortality etc to get that number.

Here is a great article if you are interested.

www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-old-age-is-not-a-modern-phenomenon.php#.Y_BDOx5ME0M

I don't know, SP. We are living longer than ever. And to my mind not necessarily better. Guess what? Our DOGS are living longer than ever! And our cats as well. We are living way too long to my mind. Head on back to Medieval times and no plastics, no pesticides, no vaccines. However DEAD AT 34!

The 10% brain thing is a myth. Google it. The reality is that we live in a toxic world and many medications people take can cause dementia and cancer and more. Our government and corporations poison our food and air all for money and we wonder why people are mentally and physically sick.

Young people who get dementia is usually caused by a head injury of some type. So keep your noggin protected. Same with old people and falls.

Freqflyer.....
Do statins help prevent dementia?

In total, a pooled analysis of 36 studies found that statins were associated with a decreased risk of dementia (OR 0.80 (CI 0.75-0.86). For Alzheimer's disease, the association with statins based on 21 studies, was also reduced (OR 0.68 (CI 0.56-0.81).Jan 18, 2022

High blood cholesterol can raise the risk of certain types of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Jul 15, 2021

Lower levels of bile acids, which are made when the body breaks down cholesterol, are linked to a higher risk of dementia among men, according to a recent NIA study

High blood cholesterol can raise the risk of certain types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. However, cholesterol does not enter the brain, and researchers are unsure how these conditions are linked.

https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/abnormal-cholesterol-metabolism-linked-dementia-risk#:~:text=High%20blood%20cholesterol%20can%20raise,Alzheimer's%20disease%20and%20vascular%20dementia.

Lea,

Those are very sad stats 😔.

More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's. By 2050, this number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million.

1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia. It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.

In 2020, COVID-19 contributed to a 17% increase in Alzheimer's and dementia deaths.

In 2022, Alzheimer's and other dementias will cost the nation $321 billion. By 2050, these costs could reach nearly $1 trillion.

More than 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer's or other dementias.

In 2021, these caregivers provided more than 16 billion hours of care valued at nearly $272 billion.

90% of physicians say it's important to diagnose MCI due to Alzheimer's, but over half say they are not fully comfortable diagnosing it.

The number of Americans living with Alzheimer's is growing — and growing fast. More than 6 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer's.

An estimated 6.5 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's in 2022. Seventy-three percent are age 75 or older.

About 1 in 9 age 65 and older (10.7%) has Alzheimer's.

Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women.

Older Black Americans are about twice as likely to have Alzheimer's or other dementias as older Whites.

Older Hispanics are about one and one-half times as likely to have Alzheimer's or other dementias as older Whites.

As the number of older Americans grows rapidly, so too will the number of new and existing cases of Alzheimer's. By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s may grow to a projected 12.7 million, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent, slow or cure Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s is not just memory loss. Alzheimer’s kills.

1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia. It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.

Deaths from Alzheimer’s have more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, while those from heart disease — the leading cause of death — have decreased.
At age 70, seniors living with Alzheimer's are twice as likely to die before age 80 than those who do not have the disease.

People age 65 and older survive an average of four to eight years after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, yet some live as long as 20 years with Alzheimer’s. This reflects the slow, uncertain progression of the disease.
 

Eighty-three percent of the help provided to older adults in the United States comes from family members, friends or other unpaid caregivers. Nearly half of all caregivers who provide help to older adults do so for someone living with Alzheimer's or another dementia.

Who are the caregivers?
About 30% of caregivers are age 65 or older.
Approximately two-thirds of caregivers are women; more specifically, over one-third of dementia caregivers are daughters.
Most caregivers (66%) live with the person with dementia in the community.
Approximately one-quarter of dementia caregivers are “sandwich generation” caregivers — meaning that they care not only for an aging parent but also for at least one child.
 
Alzheimer's takes a devastating toll on caregivers. Compared with caregivers of people without dementia, twice as many caregivers of those with dementia indicate substantial emotional, financial and physical difficulties.

Of the total lifetime cost of caring for someone with dementia, 70% is borne by families — either through out-of-pocket health and long-term care expenses or from the value of unpaid care.
 
My mother ate healthy, didn't drink or smoke, got loads of exercise, AND dementia too, at about 86 (dxed at 88). Nobody knows the 'why's' or anything else much about the human brain. #Truth

Old,

My mom had Parkinson’s and developed dementia. I didn’t even recognize the first signs of dementia as it was developing. It’s so subtle at first. My mother was always sharp but she started having certain difficulties with memory and other things.

There is a podcast that I think you may enjoy. It’s hosted by a nurse practitioner who is a healthcare provider for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, plus she has personal experience with it due to her own mother having dementia.

At the window with Dementia is the name of the podcast. She has 49 episodes on it.

There are tons of podcasts on Dementia. Look them up.

Best wishes to you.

oldageisnotfun, in a nut shell, we get plaque in our brain similar to getting plaque in our veins.

It would be interesting if someone did researching to see if everyone who has/had dementia also had really high cholesterol.

Actually, humans use nearly all their brain, all day, every day.* The body has many functions regulated or helped via brain activity. Digestion, breathing, vision, speaking, blood pressure, to name a few functions the brain is involved in. If only 10 percent is being used, then why is sleep so important?
I tend to think genetics plays a strong role in any kind of significant change in the brain. Aging population certainly is increasing the numbers of people affected with dementia. As with anything complex, there is no single answer to how or why it manifests. One avenue researchers must explore is how to screen for dementia decades before it happens. Which will also open the doors to better understanding of the physical aspects of the brain changing. To detect the shifts in cellular structures and chemistry. Perhaps have an early intervention for treatment. As it is, it feels like the Middle Ages as far as what's available for dementia-which is nothing. Not a thing. 50+ years of funded research and....nothing of significant value has resulted. Not early detection, not better treatment, not better research results.
Dementia is not going away. As the numbers of affected people increase (it's the number one cause of death for women in Australia) there will be pressure for results and treatment.
If you want to learn more, a very good, on line, free course can be found at the Wicking Center. I learned of this here and have recommended it to many people. It can be a bit advanced, medical but fun-Lego animation is used in one segment to explain dementia.
To put a finer point on this, my husband was diagnosed with Frontal Temporal Dementia about two and a half years ago. He may have a couple of ok years left of decent cognitive function and then, things will become awful-as this form of dementia tends to last about seven to eight years, and he seems to be following the basic trajectory of how Frontal Temporal dementia progresses. I am his primary caregiver and am quite aware of what will be next.



*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_percent_of_the_brain_myth

@AlvaDeer :) From here to pluto wow! there's a lot of stuff crammed into our heads.

I may have more white matter than grey matter :) Holes in the brain? I can definitely hear the wind whistle through my ears :-O

I was even wrong about the term dementia, until I joined this forum. I just grouped everything into one condition but now realize there are many conditions under the word dementia. I saw this movie called Still Alice with Julianne Moore, I'm sure most folks on this forum know it. In the past I'd watch this type of movie and thought all type of dementia end up like the character in the movie. I slowly started to realize there are different types, with different severities and levels of progression.

The reason I mentioned, the brain adapting to compensate for problems; is because I've heard the brain compensates for other cognitive issues, like a failback mechanism and I thought why can't it do that for various types of dementia. However, you mentioned the holes in the brain and I suppose it depends how much of the brain is affected and maybe there's only so much it can compensate for.

It's all fascinating what goes on upstairs.. i.e. the brain.

Thank you for posting a reply that is really fun to read and fascinating, you've certainly made me think more about the depth of the topic and the various cognitive problems for different types dementia.

Continuing the spiral, then.................
Massive massive massive subject here.
Numbers likely rising both with population and with the fact we live longer. The brain ages and a recent book written by a neurosurgeon (Dr Henry Marsh) he speaks at length about our grey matter (which holds all our working cells) and our white matter (which holds all the highways for synapsing and connecting to "make us work--enough highway to stretch to Pluto and back).
How the brain ages is likely due to multiple factors from genetics on. Small strokes, plaques they believe for the most part at this time causing cell death. MRIs show most of us have changes by age 70. You will hear "swiss cheese brain" when you read here on aging care over and over again. And yup, we get "holes in our heads" or at least in our brains as we age.
We are just beginning to get information on all this. Just think of the huge variety of our dementias from Lewy's to Alzheimer's to fronto temporal and on and on and on and on. What we KNOW is enormous but what we DON'T know is unfathomable.
If you are interested in this read Dr Henry Marsh's books (the neurologist) and Oliver Sack's books on the brain.
Go online and type in "causes of dementia". You will be busy for a lifetime of research and fascination. With all we do know we are only on the threshold and cannot even fully diagnosis many dementias until we do it by autopsy after death.
You asked one BIG QUESTION here. I am the last one to know anything at all about the answer, but I sure am fascinated by the thinkers who are trying to gather information out here.