The awareness of dementia is rapidly growing due to a large number of well-known individuals who publicly spoke about their experience with the condition. Ronald Reagan suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, Robin Williams fought with Lewy Body Dementia, and Bruce Willis has been public about his battle with Frontotemporal Dementia.
As we get older, our memories decline. Some of us may notice our own memories getting worse, or the memories of those around us. This unfortunate reality can happen for many reasons. These include shrinking in specific areas of the brain that control memory formation and retrieval, or generalized brain shrinking, or atrophy. As the brain shrinks with time, the number and volumes of neurons, or brain cells, shrinks, and communication between them gets worse. Other reasons include hormonal changes, loss of proteins that stimulate neural growth, impaired blood flow, increased inflammation, and the effects of lifestyle such as tobacco, alcohol, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and stress.
A major fear of those with impaired memory is dementia. Dementia is a general term that encompasses a group of neurodegenerative processes that directly affect the structure and function of the brain. Dementia has a wide array of contributing factors, including genetics, lifestyle choices, chronic illness, and chronic inflammation. However, not all memory loss is a result of dementia. If you, or someone you know, suffers from dementia, the harsh reality of the disease has revealed itself and its severe consequences to both the individual with the condition and all those around them.
For decades, it was thought that there is nothing that can be done for a person with dementia. While it remains a tragic truth that the disease has no cure, it is now known that there are significant things that can be done to minimize one’s risk of developing dementia, as well as drastically reducing the progression of the disease process. Early detection, action and intervention are our best hopes in combating memory loss. At the Memory Center, we utilize cutting edge diagnostic technology and novel evaluations including blood biomarkers, quantitative electroencephalograms, and comprehensive evaluations by multiple medical specialists to give you and your loved ones the most in-depth evaluation available today.
Alzheimer’s is a most common complex disease, and we still don’t know exactly why amyloid starts accumulating in the brain, blocking neurotransmission and killing neurons. The normal function of amyloid proteins is to clean the brain of debris, protect the body from infections, repair leaks in the blood-brain barrier, and promote recovery from injury. These proteins have antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. They may intercept cancer causing organisms and suppress tumor growth. So, we must consider conditions that lead to the proliferation of amyloid proteins. Conditions such as chronic infections of the gut, gingivitis, herpes simplex, hypertension, and diabetes can lead to the overproduction of beta amyloids. Early menopause, vitamin D deficiency, and metabolic syndrome are also risk factors of development of Alzheimer’s dementia. Poor sleep directly leads to amyloid protein accumulation, causing accumulation of toxins.
In short, Alzheimer’s is in many ways a response to chronic inflammation and the poor extraction of amyloid proteins during sleep.
There are four stages of neurodegenerative disease:
- Asymptomatic stage starts at age 30-50.
- SCI: Symptomatic Cognitive Impairment.There are some memory issues, but results of cognitive testing are normal.
- MCI: Mild Cognitive Impairment. Abnormal test results.
- Dementia.
It takes about 10-20 years to progress to stage 4, but it is possible to treat risk factors and chronic conditions early enough to prevent development of neurodegenerative diseases.
Unfortunately, many people go to the doctor too late. Stage 3 may lead to full dementia in a few short years. It is often too late to start adequately dealing with chronic infections. Knowing your risk factors, and addressing them, is how we can be proactive in this fight. The earlier you are aware of possible genetic predispositions, and the sooner you take care of chronic conditions, the more control you have over neurodegenerative disease. Regular visits to the doctor, exercise and sleep hygiene are the most important and easiest first steps to take.
In the Englewood Memory Center, we specialize in the early detection of neurodegenerative disease. We will thoroughly evaluate all possible risk factors and, and evaluate your neurological system. Our team of board-certified physicians, including a neurologist and internist, along with a full staff of highly trained technologists will do physiological and computerized cognitive diagnostics, order genetic and imaging testing. Armed with all this information, we will create a unique, customized therapy plan, which may include pharmaceutical agents and non-invasive treatments like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and light therapy, known as photobiomodulation (PBM).
We accept Medicare and all major insurance plans. Call us at (201) 947-4777 to schedule an appointment or go through our website, memorycenter.org.
Dr. Jeff Shenfeld is the director of the Memory Center of Englewood.
