A daughter’s perspective upon learning that her mother has Alzheimer’s Disease.

This clip is an exerpt from a 22 min video where seven families talk about living with Alzheimer Disease. To order a DVD, visit www.alzheimersocietyofbhq.com

Alzheimer’s disease follows a general pattern as it worsens over time. Learn what to expect as this common disease runs its course.Watch More Health Videos at Health Guru: www.healthguru.com

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Learn about dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease and the brain problems involved.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Learn about dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease and the brain problems involved.

For a long time the mechanisms through which some people contracted Alzheimer’s disease AD) was a mystery. They knew that there was some kind of genetic link because it tended to run in families, but beyond that, no one knew.

Now, Alzheimer’s disease research has made it possible to paint a much clearer picture. We now know that there are both genetic and environmental factors involved. We also know that the precursors to the disease begin appearing decades before Alzheimer’s symptoms become evident, much like HIV appears years before AIDS develops.

We don’t yet have as clear a marker for the beginnings of AD as HIV is to AIDS, but Alzheimer’s disease research is working on it. Researchers are currently pursuing and validating several promising precursor markers. They also continue to identify and clarify various environmental factors that play a part.

There are both positive indicators that identify elements associated with those who do not get Alzheimer’s and negative indicators associated with those that do. For Alzheimer’s disease prevention then, it would seem that all we have to do is use and adopt the positive and avoid the negative factors.

An example of a negative indicator could be major tooth loss. People who have lost more than 1/3 of their teeth are at a significantly higher risk for Alzheimer’s and other dementias than those who have retained most of their teeth. So we brush and floss, visit a dentist regularly, take care of our teeth and keep them.

There are many positive factors, too many to go into here, but a good, strong example would be by maintaining the level of Vitamin B-12 in your bloodstream at 600 to 2,000 pg/ml. [In the U.S. the averages are generally much lower. Japan's "normal" range is 500-1,300 which may explain why Japan has such a low rate of AD.]

By way of background, mammals, including humans, are born with serum levels of vitamin B12 at about 2,000 pg/ml (picograms–i.e., trillionths of a gram, per milliliter). The level declines throughout human life for various reasons, some known, others guessed at, many unknown.

Dr. John V. Dommisse, who practices medicine in Tucson, Arizona, wrote an article in 1991 in Medical Hypotheses in which he maintained that most cases of Alzheimer’s dementia are actually missed B12 deficiency cases. He later reported that Alzheimer’s disease appeared to result from too-low serum vitamin B12.

Replenishing the vitamin succeeded in improving patients in spite of other risk factors. Repleting B12, according to Dommisse, can reverse 75% of B12 deficiency dementias when the condition is discovered early enough.

More recent research has put a finer point on it. For example, in Preventive Medicine Update (May 1995), Jeffrey Bland, PhD reported, “…a wide range of very important clinical outcomes from improving folate/B12/B6 status, cutting across neurological and arterial functional status.”

Which ties in to the correlation between high levels of homocysteine and AD. Reducing your level of homocysteine also makes you less likely to get AD. Folates and other B-vitamins will reduce your homocysteine levels rapidly and economically. B-12 is cheap, available in a number of forms.(See below for more on this.)

So, to summarize that area of Alzheimer’s disease research, the bottom line is, a simple but effective step for Alzhemer’s prevention is to get your levels of B-12 and homocysteine checked. Then take B-12, folates and other B-vitamins to raise your serum B-12 and lower your homocystein, to positive, anti-AD ranges.

For more about Alzheimer’s disease research and about Alzheimer’s prevention, follow the links below…

By: Jorge G. Chavez

About the Author:

A disturbing phenomenon sometimes occurs in a person in mid-stage Alzheimer’s. It is totally frustrating to the caregiver who doesn’t understand what’s happening, and it is terrifying to the person with Alzheimer’s. Often, the patient or loved one will seem to get upset or even hysterical for no reason at all, but there is always a reason, and in many cases, the culprit is the mirror. Yes, the mirror.

To fully explain how a mirror can alarm your loved one, let’s go back to the basics. By now, you already know that Alzheimer’s disease attacks the short-term memory and gradually erodes every memory, one memory at a time. So what happens when an 85 year old woman (who doesn’t remember ever being 85) looks into the mirror and sees an image of a woman who is not the 25 year old she thinks she is? She is virtually looking at a stranger, and she is terrified. She may even think there is a stranger in the house. Could this be happening in your house?

Observe where your loved one is when the behavior begins. Is there a mirror nearby? There are so many situations over which you, the caregiver, have no control. However, you can control how many mirrors are available in the house. Just imagine how you would feel if you looked into the mirror and discovered that you had aged 60 years overnight. This could be happening to your loved one every day.

Sometimes, your loved one may make friends with the person in the mirror. This is not as disturbing; however, you might discover missing food in the most unusual places because they are saving food for their friend in the mirror.

As a side note, the mirror could play a major role in a loved one’s refusal to shower. After all, who wants to undress in front of a stranger?

If you find that the mirror is, indeed, causing the behavior, then limit, or better yet, eliminate access to mirrors. Alzheimer’s disease is a cruel, insidious disease that can make life unbearable for both the one who has it, and for the caregiver. Remember, for every behavior, there is a trigger. If the mirror is the trigger, and you remove the mirror, then you’ve not only eliminated the behavior, you have done a great service for your loved one.

By: Brenda Dapkus

About the Author:

What puts you at risk for Alzheimer’s disease? How can you prevent this killer? Based on the results of a four-year study of the medical research literature on Alzheimer s prevention, this video shows the key strategies of prevention. Simple, inexpensive, and easy, they work to prevent Alzheimer’s and more!