Now You Can Predict Alzheimer's 10 Years Before it Happens
Dr. Mercola (www.mercola.com)
A new report from Sweden indicates that subtle mental problems can show up as much as 10 years before an official diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. This gives support to the theory that the progress of the disease starts years before the well-known severe memory loss symptoms become apparent.
47 Studies Reviewed
Lars Bläckman, of the Karlinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, led a team that looked at the findings of 47 scientific studies. The team compared early cognitive tests of 1,200 older people who were eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's with those of 9,100 older people who had remained healthy.
Early Symptoms
The ones who eventually developed Alzheimer's showed a number of early symptoms that those in the other group failed to exhibit. Some of these symptoms appeared as much as 10 years before their diagnosis, and included deficits in:
Total mental ability
Memory of events
Speed of perception
The ability to plan ahead or multitask
Verbal ability
Visuospatial skills
Maintaining attention
Researchers have not yet developed a means of reliably identifying who will develop Alzheimer's. Some 4.5 million people have been diagnosed with the disease, and its prevalence doubles every five years after age 65.
There are some helpful warning signs, though, and those are in the table below.
Alzheimer's Warning Signs
Serious memory loss. People with Alzheimer's frequently forget appointments, telephone numbers and important information.
Difficulty performing everyday tasks. They might not remember how to complete a familiar routine.
Problems with abstract thinking. Those with Alzheimer's can't do simple math; they might forget what the numbers represent.
Confusion. They can get lost coming home from a familiar place.
American Psychological Association July 31, 2005
USA Today August 1, 2005
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
Alzheimer's disease is an epidemic in this country. While it would certainly be a good and useful development if a means were created to identify the disease in its early stages, before the effects become severe, it's much better by far to keep yourself from getting it in the first place.
It really is tragic when you lose your mind, not so much for you, as you will be clueless that this is occurring, but you will cause enormous hardship to those you love most and who will need to care for you because you can't care for yourself.
This is tragic because it simply doesn't have to happen. There are simple effective solutions you can take now that will radically reduce, if not virtually eliminate, your risk of ever developing this illness. To this end, I would recommend the following steps:
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