In contemporary society, people's mindset has changed and having children is no longer a necessary condition for a "complete life". As the fertility rate is declining, China has officially entered an aging society, and how to take better care of health in old age has become the most important concern.

The World Health Organization survey found that 4% to 7% of people over 65 years old worldwide suffer from dementia, and about 10 million dementia patients are counted within China. It is important to know that Alzheimer's not only affects the thinking ability of the elderly, but also causes them to gradually lose their ability to live. What are the factors that lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease? What can we do to prevent it in our lives?

I. What kind of disease is taking away the memory of the elderly?

Alzheimer's disease, known medically as Alzheimer's disease, is extremely insidious because the root cause of the disease is mainly due to the degeneration of the nervous system in the brain. The common perception of Alzheimer's is that people are confused and their memory is failing, but unbeknownst to people, the effects of brain lesions are actually very extensive.

The main clinical manifestations of Alzheimer's disease are these. Memory dysfunction, which is the main manifestation of Alzheimer's disease, patients often forget what they originally remember. Loss of language skills, inability to speak clearly, talking upside down. Visuospatial impairment, where the person can get lost and disoriented. Loss of numerical ability, showing insensitivity to numbers and not knowing what to do with simple arithmetic. Combining all the functional impairments, the elderly will encounter many obstacles in life when they suffer from this type of disorder.

For Alzheimer's disease, although there are medications that can slow down the process of continuous brain degeneration, it is almost impossible to fully recover and restore the patient's thinking, intelligence and other related functions to the level before the disease. The degenerative brain disease is unstoppable, which means that once a patient is diagnosed, he or she is bound to burden the family in the future.

Medical research has found that the onset of Alzheimer's disease is mainly related to the excessive accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain. The human body is a machine, the use of years depends mainly on the use of the way, if focus on daily maintenance, then the machine is less damaged, the use of years will be extended, but if earlier overconsumption, caused wear and tear on some parts, then the use of years will be shortened, or even a variety of problems.

Some people have bad habits in their lives, such as excessive smoking and drinking, lack of exercise, and lack of quality sleep. If these bad habits are not corrected, toxic proteins in the brain will accelerate the deposition and accumulation in the long run. Combined with the objective level and other factors that continuously cause negative stimulation to the brain, overconsumption will cause different degrees of shrinkage of brain-related tissues, further increasing the risk of dementia.

In addition to long-term bad habits, factors such as family genetics, chronic emotional depression, and suffering from immune system disorders can also trigger Alzheimer's disease and increase its incidence. Therefore, if you want to have a stable life in your old age and stay away from dementia, you should pay more attention to your own problems and actively improve them.

Second, Alzheimer's disease can also be "from the mouth"!

I believe we have all heard of the term "disease by mouth", which refers to the situation where people do not pay attention to their diet and consume substances that do not meet the needs of the body, which then causes damage to organs and tissues. The brain, as a key organ in the body, naturally needs to receive nutrients in order to function better. Therefore, the risk of Alzheimer's disease is likely to increase if there are problems with dietary habits.

1, too salty, too oily, too sweet

According to relevant research, the elderly diet is too high in salt, too much fat, more sugar, it will cause many burdens to the body's operation, including brain nerve damage. Long-term improper diet can even lead to cognitive impairment to increase the incidence of Alzheimer's disease.

Excessive salt intake tends to drive up blood pressure, and the heavier the taste, the greater the probability of increased blood pressure, even triggering cerebrovascular disease. If there is a problem with the blood supply to the brain, then the nervous system and related functional areas will be affected, and in the long run, the incidence of dementia will naturally increase.

Too much fat food, cholesterol content is generally high, if the long-term intake of excessive fat, resulting in a loss of balance of cholesterol in the body, then the vascular load will increase, and then affect the brain. A study found that people with high cholesterol are three times more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease than ordinary people, so the diet must control the intake of fats and oils.

Finally, let's talk about sugar, too much sugar intake can easily lead to diabetes. Persistent hyperglycemia can lead to shrinkage of the hippocampus in the brain, which in turn leads to shrinkage of the cerebral cortex, eventually leading to memory impairment and emotional dysfunction. These functional disorders are precisely the triggers and early manifestations of dementia onset, and need to be paid more attention as early as possible.

2、Lack of staple food intake

Most people in contemporary life are pursuing a healthy diet, and dietary guidelines such as meat and vegetables, portion control, and eating three meals in eight hours are all very common ways to eat healthy. People generally believe that long-term adherence to healthy dietary guidelines can not only improve physical fitness, but also to maintain the body, and therefore, some people in pursuit of rapid slimming, began to strictly control the intake of staple foods, some extreme people simply do not eat staple foods.

It is important to understand that the protein, starch, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins consumed through the daily diet are essential nutrients to maintain the normal functioning of the body. The main source of carbohydrates is precisely the staple food. If the intake is insufficient for a long period of time and there is a substantial lack of carbohydrates in the human body, the sugar metabolism of neurons in the brain will change, which then triggers the slow functioning of the brain. The brain is no longer flexible, and will naturally show a slow response, and even increase the risk of dementia.

Three, want to stay away from Alzheimer's, try doing this!

1、Rational planning of diet

As we mentioned earlier, too much salt, fat and sugar in the diet is not good for health, especially it increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, the first step to take to keep Alzheimer's away is to adjust your diet.

For most middle-aged and elderly people, the body functions are not as good as they used to be, so the diet should be light and nutritious. A diet with less oil, salt and sugar may lack taste, but the body is relatively less affected by the negative effects, the burden of functioning will be reduced, which is not only conducive to avoid dementia, but also to prevent other chronic diseases, which is a certain role in promoting health maintenance.

It is recommended that middle-aged and elderly people make adjustments to their diet and eat less greasy and heavy foods. According to the national dietary standards, adults should not use more than 30g of oil and 6g of salt per day in their diet, and refined sugar, such as white sugar, is better controlled to less than 50g per day. For the elderly, it is necessary to reduce the intake of these substances in order to avoid burdening the functioning of the body.

2、Formation of exercise habits

It goes without saying that exercise is naturally beneficial for maintaining health, not only strengthening bones and joints, but also increasing muscle mass and making the elderly more physically fit. At the same time, the circulation in the body will also be improved during exercise to ensure adequate blood supply throughout the body, including the brain aspect.

For the brain to function properly and avoid lesions, an adequate blood supply and smooth circulation are necessary. If the body lacks exercise for a long time and the blood supply of the whole body is impaired, then the blood supply to the brain is insufficient and the overall circulation is not smooth, so the brain naturally cannot metabolize normally and the related functions will be slow.

It is recommended that middle-aged and elderly people choose an exercise program suitable for themselves and adhere to it for a long time according to their own situation, and it is recommended to choose an aerobic program. If you insist on moderate intensity aerobic exercise every day for about 30 minutes, you can significantly improve blood supply to the whole body, especially to the brain, which will be more adequate. With smooth blood circulation in the brain, brain metabolism will be improved and related functions will function better.

3、Avoid overweight

A British study reported that people who are overweight at the age of 50 may have early onset of dementia. Researchers selected 1,300 Americans as subjects for the study and followed the changes in their height and weight. After 14 years of research, it was found that for every unit increase in height and body mass index, the onset of Alzheimer's disease would be advanced by about six months. At the same time, this also confirmed the fact that people with obese bodies are more likely to develop dementia.

You can determine whether you are overweight according to the international universal body mass index calculation formula. Substituting height and weight into the formula, BMI = weight (kg) ÷ height squared (m), if the result is between 18.5 and 24.9, it means that the weight meets the health standard, and if it exceeds that range, it means that reasonable weight loss is needed to avoid elevated prevalence of Alzheimer's disease.

Obesity can bring many problems, such as elevated blood lipids, elevated blood sugar, reduced motor function, metabolic dysfunction, and a variety of chronic diseases, and these poor body image, are not conducive to the normal functioning of the brain, will increase the damage to the brain. If you do not pay attention to the control of body shape as early as possible, the adverse effects brought about by obesity will be systemic, and the brain can hardly escape.

For people who are overweight, it is recommended to control them by regulating diet and strengthening exercise from several angles, reducing intake and increasing consumption, which can quickly reduce excess body fat and promote weight loss. In addition, good diet and exercise habits are also more conducive to health maintenance, the body continues to maintain a good level of physical condition, the brain is naturally less susceptible to adverse effects.

4、Increase brain activity

The brain is a miraculous organ with the characteristic of "using in and out", and the onset of Alzheimer's disease is not only related to the state of life, but also to the brain activity. If people neglect to exercise their brains in life, then as they age, the brain will be less and less stimulated and less flexible, and the related functions will not be exercised for a long time, which will naturally lead to the development of dementia.

It is recommended that the middle-aged and elderly people carry out brain-building activities as early as possible, such as often doing some educational games, "a shot at four birds", playing chess, etc., or read more books and newspapers, in reading to exercise the brain's thinking ability, logical ability, but also try to listen to a variety of different types of music, by affecting the auditory way, stimulating the cerebral cortex to make it more excited.

The most important thing is to maintain an optimistic mindset, as well as social habits. Laughing when you encounter happy things can significantly reduce the stress hormone cortisol as well as adrenaline, and at the same time stimulate the brain to make its state more active. And to maintain social habits, is to improve the comprehensive ability of the elderly brain, social process will exercise to emotional expression, language organization, thinking logic and other abilities, can achieve a full range of exercise for the brain.

Summary.

China is now an aging society, and as the number of elderly people increases, the incidence of dementia will continue to climb in the future. Studies have found that Alzheimer's disease, like some common diseases, has the risk of being transmitted through the mouth, especially for people with a diet high in salt, oil and sugar, and the incidence of Alzheimer's disease will be higher. Therefore, the prevention of dementia must be started as early as possible.

Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible condition that cannot be cured once it has developed. Therefore, we must pay attention to daily care in order to avoid brain damage. It is recommended that we adjust our diet, strengthen our exercise appropriately, control our weight gain, and increase our brain activity in order to effectively reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease.