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Alzheimer’s disease is a serious health risk and a big problem for the modern world’s aging population. There is no cure, but early treatment is key to ensure the best possible outcome with this disease.

 

 

Alzheimer’s is a troubling disease. There isn’t enough known about it and so treatment and prevention are almost impossible. However, that doesn’t mean that early detection isn’t important. In fact, it’s absolutely essential if you want to remain asymptomatic as long as possible. That’s why new ways to detect this health risk are so important. The earlier you know about it, the sooner you can take steps to reduce the extent of the problem for as long as possible.

 

What is Alzheimer’s?

Alzheimer’s is a very common disease that usually afflicts older people. It’s a progressive brain disorder that slowly affects memory and cognitive function. Over time, people with this disorder can become unable to do simple tasks. Alzheimer’s symptoms typically appear around 60 years of age. However, in some cases people experience early onset between the ages of 30 and 60, though this is rare. Alzheimer’s is also connected to other disorders such as dementia. The most common symptoms of Alzheimer’s includes:

 

• Memory problems, which is usually the first symptom to appear.
• Impaired reasoning or judgement.
• Difficulty finding the right words.
• Impaired spatial abilities.
• General cognitive impairment.

 

How is Alzheimer’s Detected?

Alzheimer’s can be very difficult to diagnose. In fact, doctors can’t conclusively diagnose someone with it until after death. There are a number of symptoms common to early Alzheimer’s, but these are common to other disorders as well. This just makes diagnoses even more difficult. Most of the time, doctors diagnose this disease by eliminating other possibilities. To do this, they typically perform the following tests:

 

• A health history to eliminate other causes such as mental illnesses or medications.
• A mental state exam to test for cognitive impairment.
• Brain changes common to later states of Alzheimer’s can be detected during CT scans.
• Your doctor may also get Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images taken to eliminate other potential causes of your problems.
• Neuropsychological testing which studies the link between brain and behavior.
• Other tests which examine memory, recall and spatial ability.

 

The Importance of Early Detection

Because Alzheimer’s is so difficult to diagnose and treat, lots of research goes into identifying risk factors that increase the chances of developing this disease. There are some obvious ones, such as age and genetics. However, new research indicates that sleeping patterns may also be a health risk factor.

 

A new study explored the link between daytime sleepiness and the buildup of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. This type of build-up is always found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. The information from the study was taken from a more general study of aging. The parts of the original study that were relevant to this one were the participants’ self-reporting of their sleep patterns. This was evaluated through a simple questionnaire that asked how often the participants felt sleepy in the day and how often they napped. The participants also had a brain scan that could detect plaque build-up.

 

After adjusting for other factors that could affect the data, the results were astonishing. Participants who reported excessive daytime sleepiness were 2.75 times more likely to have plaque build-up in their brains. Daytime napping also seemed to be linked to this sign of Alzheimer’s, but not as strongly.

 

The Takeaway

This result raises a number of questions that don’t have answers yet. Researchers don’t know why sleep may be linked to Alzheimer’s. It also isn’t known if the sleepiness causes the plaque build-up, or if sleep deprivation causes plaque formation. There is some evidence that poor sleep patterns cause plaque build-up, but this is far from conclusive. These questions will need to be addressed in the future. However, the study has important implications for your health now.

 

To start with, it emphasizes the importance of sleep. This means that you need to make it a priority as you age to protect against a range of health risk factors. Even if a cure for Alzheimer’s is found one day, prevention will still be incredibly important. And this research may indicate an easy way to do that.

 

More importantly however, this new insight may lead to a new way to detect Alzheimer’s that’s quick, easy, and non-invasive. And that could be pivotal in ensuring that sufferers get the right treatment as early as possible.

 

 

 

If you are at higher risk of heart disease, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.

 

Tags: Health Risk, Alzheimer’s