Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. It can seriously affect a person’s ability to carry out daily activities. The greatest known risk factor is increasing age and the majority of people with Alzheimer's are 65 and older.
Alzheimer's worsens over time. It is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. On average, a person with Alzheimer's lives 4 to 8 years after diagnosis but can live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors. Since it’s a progressive disease, the symptoms of Alzheimer’s usually develop slowly and deteriorate over time. Some of the early signs and symptoms are memory loss that disrupts daily life, challenges in planning, difficulty completing daily tasks, lose track of dates and time, trouble understanding on visual images and spatial relationships, misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps, changes on judgement or decision making and changes in mood and personality.
According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) data published in 2018 Alzheimer’s Deaths in the Philippines reached 1,047 or 0.17% of total deaths. The age adjusted Death Rate is 1.98 per 100,000 of population ranks Philippines #177 in the world.
There are treatments available for some symptoms and there’s a great deal of ongoing research looking for new therapies. There are also specific lifestyle changes that can be highly effective in helping you slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. A good nutrition can ease some symptoms like:
- Eat a variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy.
- Keep a healthy weight
- Limit foods with high saturated fat and cholesterol, like fatty meats and fried foods.
- Cut down on sugar.
- Avoid eating too much salt.
- Drink plenty of water.
Like our body, our brains change as we age. Most of us eventually notice some slowed thinking and occasional problems with remembering certain things. We must Eat Well to Live Well. (AAVIConstantino/OIC-NPCFlores)
Reference:
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/alzheimers-dementia-aging/alzheimers-disease.htm
