It’s not uncommon to occasionally forget dates or lose items, and these events tend to become more common as we grow old.

However, while occasional memory slippage may be a normal consequence of getting older, Alzheimer’s disease is not. If memory problems interfere with one’s day-to-day activities, it may be time to seek a doctor’s help.

It’s important to understand and be vigilant for the early warning signs of Alzheimer’s and to seek a professional medical diagnosis if several symptoms are noticed.

Often, at the early onset of Alzheimer’s, a family member or close friend will notice a change in a person’s behavior or mood. These people should ensure that the person gets immediate medical care.

Are You at Risk for Getting Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition that damages areas of the brain involved in intelligence, memory, behavior, judgment, and language. It is the most common form of mental decline in older adults. Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, but the course of the disease varies from person to person. Some people may still be able to function relatively well until late stages of Alzheimers disease. Others may lose the ability to do daily activities in earlier stages. Over time, Alzheimer’s disease causes severe mental and functional problems and eventually results in death.

Causes

Scientists do not yet fully understand the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. There probably is not one single cause, but several factors that affect each person differently.

Recent studies indicate that amyloid beta protein may cause Alzheimer’s disease. In healthy people, this protein can cross the blood-brain barrier (the wall of blood vessels that feed the brain and regulate the entry and exit of brain chemicals) and leave the brain. In people with Alzheimers disease, amyloid beta protein can’t pass through that barrier. As more amyloid beta protein accumulates in a person’s brain, they become more and more mentally disabled.

Research has recently revealed that consumption of sugar could be one of the biggest threats to our overall health - especially when it comes to age related diseases such as Alzheimer’s. One of the major problems stemming from sugar over-consumption is a chemical process called glycation. Glycation refers to the combination of a sugar and a protein molecule and occurs in your body when glucose in your blood combines with the amino acids tryptophan, lysine or arginine. This reaction releases byproducts called Advanced Glycation Endproducts (appropriately given the acronym AGE).

The formation of AGEs is accelerated when you have lower levels of antioxidants in your system and when your kidneys are weak or malfunctioning. The formation is also accelerated when blood sugar levels are high. Researchers now believe that glycation and the formation of AGEs lie at the heart of the alteration of proteins in the brain that cause Alzheimer’s disease.

Risk Factors

Age is the most important known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. The number of people with the disease doubles every 5 years beyond age 65.

Blood sugar problems that cause excess glucose in the blood, such as diabetes, has now been added to the list of risk factors for Alzheimer’s, given the role of glycation.

Family history is another risk factor, depending on the type of Alzheimer’s . Familial Alzheimer’s Disease, a rare form of Alzheimer’s that usually occurs between the ages of 30 and 60, is inherited - so family history is a big risk factor. The more common form of Alzheimers disease is known as late-onset Alzheimer’s. It occurs later in life, and no obvious inheritance pattern is seen.

Relationship to Aluminum

Since 1965, researchers have suspected that Alzheimers disease is related to accumulations of aluminum in the brain. A relationship between aluminum in drinking water and Alzheimer’s has now been established. Additionally, a study looked at the association of Alzheimer’s and lifetime exposure to aluminum in antiperspirants and antacids. Scientists found a direct correlation. The more antiperspirant that was used, the more likely the person would develop Alzheimers disease. The same held true for aluminum antacids. It is hard to deny that environmental exposure to aluminum is at least related to Alzheimer’s.

Symptoms and Cures

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease for which there is no known cure. However, various therapies and treatments can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. Therefore, it is important to know the warning signs for each stage of Alzheimer’s and detect the condition early. If caught early alpha lipoic acid and other Alzheimer’s treatments can be used to slow (and possibly stop) the progression of the disease.

Amyloid plaques are waxy and translucent protein-polysaccharide complexes that are deposited in organs or tissues during certain diseases. These deposits cause the degeneration of the organ or tissue involved. Amyloid plaques are associated with a number of conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, Hodgkin’s disease and Osteomyelitis.

While this may be a principal cause of Alzheimer’s, I have noticed many other contributing factors. With some, it is a tendency towards stoicism and aloofness, with others there is the tendency to carry many of their loved one’s emotions with them. It is not possible in the space of this article to cover all of the related emotional and psycho spiritual factors contributing to Alzheimer’s.

Your physical body through the symptoms of disease will communicate to you when something in you life is out of order, needs attention or care. Your body gives many early warning signs. These messages are not always dangerous. Many times they are just your body saying, hello, please pay attention. By listening to these messages you will have an early start on preventing illness, having healthy relationships, and avoiding dangerous situations.

Our bodies are sensitive and complex intuitive receptors. Many of these messages go unheard each day. We have been socialized to live from the mind, and to ignore the rest of the body. If we have a problem, we take a pill and it goes away, right?

There is now a rapidly growing body of medical literature documenting the physical effects of emotions on the body. To create optimal health, we need a basic understanding of how, why, where and when specific emotional and mental patterns can set the stage for physical illness. We also need to understand how intuition comes to us through unique changes in mood, anxiety, attention, dreams, images, and physical symptoms in our body.

Other Possibilities / Causes

Alzheimer’s may not cause memory loss and other problems with cognition, mood, and personality.

Other possible causes of these kinds of symptoms include:

• Side effects of medication,
• Certain illnesses such as small strokes or brainvascular disease,
• Thyroid gland problems,
• Depression,
• Fatigue,
• Grief,
• Vision or hearing loss,
• Infections,
• Alcohol or drug use, and,
• Chronic stress.

Many of these are treatable or even reversible.

It would be fair to assume that almost everyone on the planet

loves sugar and sweet foods. Processed sugar is in many products

and is a key ingredient for baking. It seems that everyone has a

sweet tooth for some sugar food in one way or another. Most

people know to limit their intake of processed sugar, however,

what most people don’t know is that sugar is one of the worst

ingredients to put into your body. The chemical reaction of

sugar in the body acts as a poison. Studies show that sugar has

drug like effects in the body.

Processed sugar has many harmful effects throughout the body and
can cause major imbalances in the organ systems. You could say
that sugar tends to throw off the homeostatic balance of the
whole body by increasing the production of adrenaline by many
times. In essence, sugar stimulates the nervous system by
inducing a flight or fight response