30
Oct
New findings on Dementia expose further similarities to Alzheimer's Disease
According to a researchers at the University of California, the rate of dementia for people 90 years of age and older is 18.2 percent and increases significantly in both men and women with age.
Dementia is a progressive, degenerative disorder that affects memory, language, attentions, emotions and problem solving capabilities. Dementia is caused by a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, stroke and other neurodegenerative disorders.
"One of the things that patients need to realize is that dementia is the category and that Alzheimer's disease can contribute to it," Dr. Howard Baker, MD, selected as a Chicago Top Doctor by TopTierMD as a top rated specialist in internal medicine in Chicago, said. "There's also multi-infarct dementia, which is the second most common form of dementia and is caused by vascular lesions. Dementia can also be caused by small strokes through the years, which can add up and cause a dementia-like illness. Parkinson's disease may also have dementia associated with it."
Approximately six to ten percent of the population in North America over the age of 65 suffers from dementia, the World Health Organization reports, with Alzheimer's disease accounting for two-thirds of those cases.
"The problem with dementia is that we can't really treat it all that effectively," Dr. Baker said. "There are medications we can give that work on how the brain's systems are affected, but they don't really treat the dementia. We treat the side effects. In the future, we may not be able to stop dementia once it occurs, but the hope is that we could develop a vaccine."
Dr. Baker says that there are, however, interesting finds in the field of dementia.
"There's an explosion of growth in the dementia field, but translating it to treatment issues is complex," Dr. Baker says. "The brain is extremely complex. Taking what you're learning in science to the bed side is difficult."
"There are some very interesting findings about dementia, though. We've known for a long time that there is something called amyloid plaque, which we see pathologically with Alzheimer's. Another hallmark of Alzheimer's is neurofibrillary tangles."
"In animals, researchers have isolated these plaques and tangles as well as something called prion proteins, which you would normally see in mad cow disease. It may be that these plaques that people have been trying to treat as a source of Alzheimer's may actually be a signal to turn on these prion proteins we're harboring."
In mad cow disease, prion proteins fold themselves into an abnormal shape that is believed to cause degeneration of the brain and spinal cord. In Alzheimer's, the prion proteins do not fold into abnormal shapes. Instead, they are believed to interact with the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, allowing those plaques to damage brain cells.
To fight dementia, Dr. Baker says, it is important to stay mentally active.
"It could be that a lack of mental stimulation can lead to the development of dementia," Dr. Baker says. "Years ago, a study investigated who became afflicted with dementia. A lot of times, it was people who obtained a high school level of education but didn't work.
"Mental activity is probably as important as physical activity as the body ages. You exercise your body to keep in shape, it is also important to exercise the mind."
Dr. Howard Baker, MD, was selected by TopTierMD as a Chicago Top Doctor and is considered Best in Internal Medicine in Chicago. He specializes in geriatrics and general internal medicine.
