Читать книгу Anti-Inflammatory Diet For Dummies - Artemis Morris - Страница 54

The Alzheimer’s Association lists these ten early signs of Alzheimer’s:

 Memory loss that disrupts daily life

 Challenges in planning or solving problems

 Difficulty completing familiar tasks

 Confusion with time or place

 Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships

 New problems with words in speaking or writing

 Misplacing things and lacking the ability to retrace steps

 Decreased or poor judgment

 Withdrawal from work or social activities

 Changes in mood and personality

Alzheimer’s disease begins slowly. Individuals with the disease may quickly forget information they just learned or the names of people they know. The disease worsens over time, and those patients may not recognize family members or may forget how to brush their teeth or comb their hair. They may begin to have trouble reading or even speaking. See the nearby sidebar for a more complete list of early signs of Alzheimer’s.

In early 2019, researchers from Johns Hopkins’ School of Medicine found that people who experience high levels of chronic inflammation in middle age are more likely to have memory loss and problems with cognitive function later in life.

After studying 1,500 people over the course of 21 years, researchers found that those with high levels of C-reactive protein — an inflammation marker we discuss more in Chapter 7 — had a 12 percent steeper decline in thinking and memory skills than those with lower levels.

Though it’s the most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease isn’t a normal part of aging; only about 1 in 10 people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s, and about a third — 32 percent — of those over the age of 85 have the disease. There is no cure, but treatments are available.