Spring Arbor Living Blog

If you or someone you know is experiencing any of the signs of Alzheimer’s Disease, please see a doctor. Early diagnosis gives you a chance to seek treatment and come up with a plan for the future.

Memory loss that disrupts daily life
One of the most common signs of Alzheimer's is memory loss, especially forgetting recently learned information. Others include forgetting important dates or events; asking for the same information over and over; relying on memory aides or family members for things they used to handle on their own.

Challenges in solving problems
Some people may experience changes in their ability to develop and follow a plan or work with numbers. They may have trouble following a familiar recipe or keeping track of monthly bills.

Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home
People with Alzheimer's often find it hard to complete daily tasks such as driving to a familiar location, managing a budget at work or remembering the rules of a favorite game.

Confusion with time or place
People with Alzheimer's can lose track of dates, seasons and the passage of time. They may have trouble understanding something if it is not happening immediately. Sometimes they may forget where they are or how they got there.

Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
For some people, having vision problems is a sign of Alzheimer's. They may have difficulty reading, judging distance and determining color or contrast. In terms of perception, they may pass a mirror and think someone else is in the room. They may not realize they are the person in the mirror.

New problems with words in speaking or writing
People with Alzheimer's may have trouble following or joining a conversation. They may stop in the middle of a conversation and have no idea how to continue or they may repeat themselves. They may struggle with vocabulary; have problems finding the right word or call things by the wrong name.

Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
A person with Alzheimer's disease may put things in unusual places. They may lose things and be unable to go back over their steps to find them again. Sometimes, they may accuse others of stealing. This may occur more frequently over time.

Decreased or poor judgment
People with Alzheimer's may experience changes in judgment or decision-making especially with money.  They may pay less attention to grooming or keeping themselves clean.

Withdrawal from work or social activities
A person with Alzheimer's may start to remove themselves from hobbies, social activities, work projects or sports. They may have trouble keeping up with a favorite sports team or remembering how to complete a favorite hobby.

Changes in mood and personality
The mood and personalities of people with Alzheimer's can change. They can become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful or anxious. They may be easily upset at home, at work, with friends or in places where they are out of their comfort zone.

If you or someone you love is suffering from any or all of these signs, contact a doctor and visit an assisted living care community with specific Alzheimer’s care options.

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Carrying around extra pounds during middle age was associated with a higher risk of dementia later in life in a new study that followed twins in Sweden for 30 years.

The research was not set up to prove that dementia was caused by the added weight, but Dr. Weili Xu, the study's lead author, said that the evidence is pointing in that direction.

The findings suggest that "control of body fat as early as middle life is important to prevent dementia later in life," she told Reuters Health.

Xu and her colleagues analyzed data from close to 9,000 Swedish twins.

When the participants were an average age of 43, they gave researchers information about their height and weight.

Thirty years later, the researchers examined the same individuals for signs of declining thinking and memory skills, and then diagnosed some of them with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.

Close to one in three of the participants were overweight or obese in middle age. And those that were had about an 80 percent higher chance of getting any kind of dementia than people of normal weight.

The more participants weighed in mid-life, the higher their chance of getting dementia or "questionable dementia" - meaning they had signs of thinking and reasoning problems, but not enough to be diagnosed with dementia.

In total, about 4 percent of everyone in the study was diagnosed with dementia, and another 1 to 2 percent with questionable dementia.

Despite the link between excess pounds in midlife and later dementia, when the researchers looked specifically at 137 twin pairs who were "discordant" - one twin had dementia and the other didn't - the tie to midlife overweight shrank considerably.

While Xu said that finding suggests that "there are some common genes that predispose (people) to both diseases (overweight and dementia)," it could also be that it was just more difficult to establish a solid link in such a small sample.

Whether genes predispose a person to being overweight in adulthood, or it's just bad eating habits, the likely explanation for the link to dementia is that fat tissue in the body releases hormones and other signaling cells that may affect the brain's functioning.

In addition, extra weight has been shown to increase a person's risk for diabetes and heart and blood vessel diseases - and those conditions are related to a higher dementia risk. However, the link between weight and dementia remained even after the researchers took other diseases into account.

The findings are the latest evidence that preventing Alzheimer's disease and dementia starts long before their signs and symptoms show up.

"People need to understand that what they do today could have an effect on them 30 or 40 years from now.”
When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, what's good for the heart is good for the brain.

Original article - MSN

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