The incubation period can be as long as 20 years! Here are the methods to prevent Alzheimer's disease

Expert of this article: Zhao Jing, attending physician, Third Medical Center, PLA General Hospital

This article was reviewed by Li Jiehui, deputy chief physician, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

Alzheimer's disease is a disease that makes people feel sad when they mention it.

Memory loss, frequent confusion, and some patients even cannot recognize their own relatives... Many families are deeply affected.

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Unfortunately, the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are easily ignored, resulting in the best time for treatment being missed.

What is the incubation period of Alzheimer's disease? What are the early signs in the body? How to prevent it? Let's explain it in detail below.

What is Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with an insidious onset. It mostly occurs in people over 65 years old, with a higher incidence in women than in men. Some patients are younger than 65 years old, which is called early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

The cause of this disease is relatively complex, and it is related to family history, history of head trauma, low education level, smoking, harmful drinking and other bad living habits; it is also related to underlying diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and thyroid diseases.

Are women more likely to get Alzheimer's?

The number of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease has been increasing year by year. The "China Alzheimer's Disease Report 2021" mentioned that the prevalence rate among Chinese women is 1188.9/100,000 and the mortality rate is 30.8/100,000. The prevalence rate among women is about twice that of men.

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Researchers have found that the way tau protein spreads in women's brains is different. Tau protein is a protein that destroys nerve cells when it is entangled. At the same time, studies have confirmed that FSH is also a causative factor of this disease. Before and after menopause, the FSH content of women rises sharply, binds to the homologous FSH receptors on neurons and activates the C/EBPβ/AEP pathway, thus causing the disease.

How long is the incubation period of Alzheimer's disease?

The disease progresses slowly and it is often difficult to determine when it starts. The incubation period can be as short as a few months or as long as several years, and sometimes as long as 20 years. Therefore, early detection and early treatment are the key.

Beware of the early signs of Alzheimer's!

Early symptoms include memory loss, forgetfulness of recent events, and decreased judgment.

If you have recent memory loss or cognitive decline, you should pay close attention to it and be alert to the possibility of this disease. For example, you can't remember what happened just now, but remember things that happened a long time ago very clearly. Or you may have a decline in living ability, mental and behavioral changes.

How to prevent Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is a complex multifactorial disease. Based on epidemiological studies and relevant literature, my country has listed some controllable risk factors. Controlling high-risk factors can play a certain preventive role.

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Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, etc. are all independent risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, and the specific mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, controlling basal blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids can play a certain preventive role.

Bad living habits, such as heavy smoking and harmful drinking in middle-aged people, can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Smoking can increase the production of free radicals, activate the oxidative stress response in the brain, lead to pathological changes in the brain, and increase the incidence of Alzheimer's disease by 56%. Therefore, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol consumption can also prevent AD.

Overweight and obesity: The prevalence of the disease among overweight and obese people is higher than that among normal people. Controlling weight has a certain preventive effect on Alzheimer’s disease.

Brain trauma, cerebrovascular disease: Patients with stroke have twice the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease as those without stroke.

Education level is negatively correlated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Considering that it may be related to cognitive reserve, the prevalence rate of people with low education is higher than that of people with high education. Therefore, learning throughout life can also prevent Alzheimer's disease.

High-risk factors such as depression and sleep disorders are also the causes of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, maintaining a good mood and effective sleep can also prevent Alzheimer's disease.

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