Tests and pathways leading to the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease
There are 7 stages in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) development, and we cannot realise it until stage 3–4 that there is a posibility of something wrong. In stage two there are only few incidents and usually they are identified as ‘’senior moments’. In stage two there is a very mild cognitive decline, but it is still not observable by the subjects or family or friends. Stage 3 has a mild cognitive decline, and the person may start to have difficulties remembering names or finding/using words (especially ‘fancy’ words, as the vocabulary tends to get much simpler). In this stage you realise that something is wrong, but you brush it off, and try to minimasing, blaming age. Stage 4 is a full blown Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and according to doctors, you may have on average 12 years left to live once you reach this stage. Which may or may be not true. Up to stage 4, you may still have a chance to delay it significantly or even recover. Just for your curiosity, in stage 5 you start to be confused, have problem with dressing and remembering informations about yourself and short term memory will not work optimally. In stage 6 you may be unaware of your surroundings, do not know where you are, do not remember much about yourself, start to wander around and have toileting accidents. Stage 7 is the terminal one, when you forget how to eat, speak and most of the other basic functions.
But, there is a way to deal with this from stage 2, and this is by using the knowledge already accumulated and test yourself in many way, keeping an eye on your cognitive abilities. Genetical informations are very important, as i already mentioned the ApoE allele involvement in AD in my previous post. By cheching which version of Apolipoprotein you got (E2, E3 or E4), you may have an idea at what age the degenerative process is most probably to start. Checking a service like 23ANDME can provide this information, but i find the price being quite prohibitive (in the £100–150 range). So my advice is to make an account and wait for them to offer some Christmas or Easter promotion, and you may get it done for half the price. Unless is urgent. Inflammation is another very important symptom, and it is closely linked with AD (and many other problems). Some infections are definetely linked with the AD (yes, tick bites, that’s what i am talking about — viruses like Herpes Simplex, Borrelia — responsable for Lyme disease, some oral bacteria like Porphyromonas gingivalis, and a number of fungi and moulds). There is one aminoacid called homocysteine, which is causally associated with AD and linked to brain atrophy. Fasting insulin level or blood sugar level is of utmost importance, and some hormonal imbalance has definitely linked to AD. Mycotoxins (moulds) and heavy metals exposure can also be a cause for Alzheimer’s disease. There are some other factors observed and almost never mentioned, for example the AD patient may have a distinct gut microbiome, even if we do not knnow yet if it is the microbiome leading to AD or the AD leading to the specific changes in microbiome. The blood-brain barrier is often abnormal in AD patients. And everybody is blaming obesity for many ilnesses, yes, it is to blame for AD also, as a higher BMI will increase the changes to suffer from it. Prediabetes state is also mentioned in some researches (it is related to the insulin resistance and the high levels of blood glucose).
All this should be checked in an ideal situation, but what really happen in reality? You reach stage 4, you or your relatives or your friends start to worry about the cognitive decline, you check with a doctor, asked to do a MRI to check the brain, have some blood tests like complete blood count, vitamin B12, Thyroid hormone levels ( TFT, TSH T3 maybe) and metabolic panel, and then you are prescribe some generic meds and your partner or children are asked to help with finances and medication. And this is it. A surefire approach to failure.
What i will talk about in some following posts is how to detect it early, as early as in stage 1–2, and what you need to do to delay it as much as possible. Stay with me and read my future posts (i still need to read a ton of research to realise all the intricaties involved. But i hope it will help you to stay cognitively healthy for longer.
All my books are self-published on Amazon. I have written all my life, mostly poetry and short fiction. I care about me. I care about others. I care as a job.
Previous posts:
How to (not) lose your mind — a (not so) original approach on Alzheimer’s disease (1)
Alzheimer’s disease and vitamin B group optimal levels (2)
All the best,
George
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