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| Conditions & Diseases A - Z | ADD / ADHD | ALS / Lou Gehrig's Disease | Alzheimer's Disease | Cancer | |
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| Helicobacter Pylori | Migraine Headaches | Hypoglycemia | Muscle Spasms / Cramps | Osteoporosis | Prostatitis | |
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Alzheimer's Disease: Nutritional Causes, Prevention & Therapies |
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Named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, who identified this form of dementia in 1906, Alzheimer's Disease is a |
progressive, degenerative brain disease that generally leads to confusion, memory loss, depression, apathy, |
agitation, problems with perception, speech, trouble moving, and fearing things that are not there. Up to 70% |
of dementias are due to Alzheimer's disease, with the diagnosis usually being made by ruling out other types |
of dementia. |
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) occurs almost as often in men as it does in women, whereby early onset of AD |
appears before age 60, and late onset AD - the most common form of the disease - develops in people 60 |
and older. Several factors are believed to be involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease, but none |
have been proven conclusively as of yet. |
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Neurochemical causes are thought to include lack of substances used by the nerve cells to transmit nerve impulses (neurotransmitters), including acetylcholine, serotonin, somatostatin, substance P, norepinephrine, |
GABA, or they are comprised of elevated concentrations of extra-cellular glutamate, which are highly toxic to |
neurons. As a result, some researchers believe glutamate-rich food sources, such as MSG, to be of concern. |
The antiglutamatergic drug Memantine (Axura, Namenda) aims to restore a proper balance in the glutamate- |
NMDA system when it has become overstimulated by glutamate. |
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Environmental causes that promote Alzheimer's disease include above-normal exposure to Aluminum, iron, |
copper, zinc, manganese, and other factors. High aluminum (aluminium) intake in particular inhibits choline |
transport and reduces neuronal choline acetyltransferase. This may contribute to the acetylcholine deficiency, |
which is a key component of Alzheimer's disease. In some municipalities, drinking water contains very high |
levels of added aluminum. |
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Infectious causes include Amyloid or Prion (virus-like organisms) infections, that affect the brain and spinal |
cord / central nervous system, and derived from a scrapie-like factor, a disease affecting sheep. |
Other risk factors include a family history of Alzheimer's disease (there is a 5-10% inherited predisposition |
to the development of AD), a mutation of the APOE gene, Parkinson's disease, apolipoprotein E-4, alcohol |
abuse, depression, head trauma (boxing), lack of mental stimulation (reading, problem solving, gardening), |
long-term electromagnetic exposure, and free radical damage (oxidative stress). |
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Research is underway trying to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease by using a course of common |
Antibiotics, following the discovery of an increased incidence of chlamydia pneumoniae infection in the |
brains of deceased Alzheimer's patients. Chlamydia pneumoniae and mycoplasma pneumoniae have also |
been found with some forms of asthma, heart disease, and multiple sclerosis. |
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Dietary factors implicated with Alzheimer's disease include the presence of AGEs (advanced glycation end |
products), as well as possible nutritional deficiencies that may include Vitamin A, Vit C & E, Vit B6 & B12, |
DHA / w3 EFAs (i.e. cold water fish), and folate, although no reliable studies have confirmed a definite link. |
Whatever the cause, the lesions and the damaged neurons eventually reduce blood flow to affected areas of |
the brain, causing hypoxic ischemia (oxygen deprivation). |