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| ===Lifestyle=== | | ===Lifestyle=== |
| <u>'''Mental activity'''</u> | | <u>'''Mental activity'''</u> |
| "Use it or Lose it" might be applied to the brain when it comes to dementia. Intellectual activities help keep the mind in shape in the older days. | | "Use it or Lose it" might be applied to the brain when it comes to dementia. |
| Activities, such as reading, playing cards and board games and playing a musical instrument prevents dementia of both [[Alzheimer's]] and [[vascular dementia]] <ref name="wvdhhr">[http://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/oehp/hsc/dementia/prevent.htm West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (with further links to experiments respectively)]</ref>. The risk decreases proportionally to the frequency of activity.<ref name="wvdhhr" />
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| Not only activities during spare time seem to prevent dementia. What kind of occupation also matters, especially during the thirties, forties and fifties <ref name="wvdhhr" />. A good job in this case is any mentally demanding one.
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| Why activity contributes to prevent dementia could be explained by a "brain reserve" built up by the brain; Additional connections between [[neuron]]s are created, connections more resistant to the deterioration seen in dementia <ref name="wvdhhr" />.
| | '''<u>Physical activity</u>'''. |
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| '''<u>Physical activity</u>''' | |
| Since [[vascular dementia]] is the second most common form of dementia (after [[Alzheimer's disease]]), decreasing risk factors for [[Cerebrovascular disease]] also decreases the risk factors for dementia. Thus, physical exercise, having good blood [[cholesterol]], healthy [[Body weight]] and [[Blood pressure]] lowers the risk of developing dementia <ref name="wvdhhr" />. An active lifestyle can almost halve the risk compared to a sedentary one <ref name="wvdhhr" />.
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| The effect of physical activity isn't limited to vascular effects. For instance, it can give rise to new [[neurons]] in the brain, as well as releasing a substance that can protect them <ref name="wvdhhr" />.
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| Furthermore, physical activity has many other [[Physical_exercise#Exercise_benefits|Exercise benefits]].
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| <u>'''Diet'''</u> | | <u>'''Diet'''</u> |
| [[Obesity]] increases the risk of any dementia, but Alzheimer's in particular <ref name="wvdhhr" />.
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| However, what kind of food eaten also matters. '''Fish''' consumtion reduces the risk of Alzheimer's <ref name="wvdhhr" />. Fish is high in [[Docosahexaenoic acid]], an omega-3 fatty acid, especially in cold water fish such as salmon, tuna and halibut.
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| Vegetables and nuts also benefit <ref name="wvdhhr" />, because of their high content of [[polyunsaturated fat]]s. Non-fish meat, on the other hand, increases the risk of Alzhemer's <ref name="wvdhhr" />, by its high content of [[Saturated fat]]. The moderate consumption of alcohol may reduce risk through improving vascular health and other mechanisms. <ref> Mulkamal, K.J., et al. Prospective study of alcohol consumption and risk of dementia in older adults. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2003 (March 19), 289, 1405-1413; Ganguli, M., et al. Alcohol consumption and cognitive function in late life: A longitudinal community study. Neurology, 2005, 65, 1210-12-17; Huang, W., et al. Alcohol consumption and incidence of dementia in a community sample aged 75 years and older. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 2002, 55(10), 959-964; Rodgers, B., et al. Non-linear relationships between cognitive function and alcohol consumption in young, middle-aged and older adults: The PATH Through Life Project. Addiction, 2005, 100(9), 1280-1290; Anstey, K. J., et al. Lower cognitive test scores observed in alcohol are associated with demographic, personality, and biological factors: The PATH Through Life Project. Addiction, 2005, 100(9), 1291-1301; Espeland, M., et al. Association between alcohol intake and domain-specific cognitive function in older women. Neuroepidemiology, 2006, 1(27), 1-12; Stampfer, M.J., et al'. Effects of moderate alcohol consumption on cognitive function in women. New England Journal of Medicine, 2005, 352, 245-253; Ruitenberg, A., et al. Alcohol consumption and risk of dementia: the Rotterdam Study. Lancet, 2002, 359(9303), 281-286; Scarmeas, N., et al. Mediterranean diet and risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Annals of Neurology, 2006 (published online April 18, 2006). </ref>
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| However, there is no certain effect of eating antioxidants <ref name="wvdhhr" />, such as [[beta carotene]], [[Vitamin C]] or [[Vitamin D]] Antioxidants lowers the level of [[Radical (chemistry)|free radicals]], and theoretically this could lower the risk of dementia by deceasing the damage on [[neurons]] caused by the free radicals.
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| [[Iron deficiency (medicine)|Iron deficiency]] is another risk factor for dementia <ref name="wvdhhr" />. A deficiency leads to insufficient amounts in the brain cells of [[heme]], a molecule with iron as one of the components. In an attempt to compensate, the brain cells produce excess amounts of the other components. These components react with oxygen, creating [[Radical (chemistry)|free radicals]] which damage the [[neurons]] of the brain.
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| ===Medication=== | | ===Medication=== |
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| <u>'''Hypertension medications'''</u> | | <br /> |
| The etiology of [[Vascular dementia]] includes [[hypertension]], and thus, lowering blood pressure with [[Antihypertensive]]s has a positive effect in the prevention of dementia, just as physical activity. Managing cardiovascular risk factors in middle age has been associated with a decrease in all-cause dementia (i.e., both vascular and Alzheimer disease [AD]).
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| Furthermore, antihypertensives lowers the risk of not only vascular dementia, but also of developing [[Alzheimer's disease]], especially when using [[Potassium-sparing diuretic]]s<ref name="wvdhhr" />.
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| '''<u>Anti-diabetic drugs</u>'''
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| Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for [[vascular dementia]], and is thus lowered with [[Anti-diabetic drug]]s<ref name="mayoclinic">[http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes-and-alzheimers/AZ00050 MayoClinic]</ref>.
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| Besides, [[Rosiglitazone]] (Avandia) improves memory and thinking ability to people with mild Alzheimer's disease. The mechanism of the effect might be due to the ability of the drug to reduce [[insulin resistance]]<ref name="wvdhhr" />. Thus, less insulin needs to be released to achieve its metabolic effects. Insulin in the bloodstream is a trigger of [[Amyloid beta]]-production<ref name="mayoclinic" />, so decreased insulin levels decrease the level of amyloid beta. This leads to less formation of [[amyloid]] plaques seen in Alzheimer's disease.
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| <u>'''NSAIDs'''</u>
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| [[Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug]]s (NSAIDs) decreases the risk of developing Alzheimer's<ref name="wvdhhr" />. However, the period of use has to be of a certain length before any effect can be seen. It should be longer than 2 years to have any effect <ref name="wvdhhr" />.
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| [[Alzheimer's disease]] causes inflammation in the [[neuron]]s by its deposits of [[amyloid beta]] peptides and [[Neurofibrillary tangle]]s. These deposits irritate the body by causing a release of e.g. [[cytokines]] and [[Acute phase protein]]s, leading to inflammation. When these substances accumulate over years they contribute to the effects of Alzheimer's<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10858586 Inflammation and Alzheimer's disease, Neurobiol Aging. 2000 May-Jun;21(3):383-421]</ref>. NSAIDs inhibit the formation of such inflammatory substances, and prevent the deteriorating effects.
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| <u>'''Vaccine'''</u>
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| There is yet no [[vaccine]] against dementia <ref name="wvdhhr" />. Such a vaccine could activate the body's own [[immune system]] to combat the [[beta amyloid]] plaques in Alzheimer's disease. One problem to overcome is overreaction from the immune system, leading to [[Encephalitis]] <ref name="wvdhhr" />.
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| ==References== | | ==References== |