In our lives, the word "Alzheimer's" seems to be breaking into the field of vision more and more frequently, like a worrying shadow, quietly affecting many families. Take 71-year-old Uncle Zhang Fulin as an example, his experience is vividly sounding the alarm bell for us.
Uncle Zhang used to be a retired bus driver, who came and went in the wind and rain when he was young, and knew every street in the city well, and his sense of direction was like an accurate navigator. After retiring, he lived alone in a two-bedroom apartment in an old community, his children were busy working in other places, and his wife died a few years earlier. Usually, he likes to chat with his old neighbors, occasionally go downstairs for a stroll, and enjoy a leisurely old age.
From May 2023, some subtle but disturbing changes have quietly befallen Uncle Zhang. Once, as usual, he went to the downstairs store to buy soy sauce, and after paying the money, he turned around and left, forgetting all the change he had recovered. The shopkeeper shouted several times at the top of his throat before he woke up like a dream, scratched his head, and said with a wry smile: "Oh, I'm old, this brain is really getting more and more useless!" When the neighbors heard this, they all just laughed, after all, people are getting older, and it seems inevitable to forget something.
However, this is just the beginning. A few days later, Uncle Zhang stood at the gate of the community for a long time, his eyes were full of confusion, and he couldn't remember whether he was going out to buy vegetables or just came back from shopping. When he got home, he stood at the kitchen door, staring at the vegetable basket in his hand and muttering, "What the hell did I do just now?" Such "small situations" have sprung up one after another, and they are becoming more and more frequent.
Uncle Zhang has a habit that has been maintained for decades, and he has to drink one or two pots before going to bed every night. Gradually, however, he found that when he woke up in the morning, his head was groggy, and he couldn't remember what he had eaten the night before. But Uncle Zhang didn't take these to heart, he just thought he was old, and his body was naturally not as good as before, plus he likes to stay up late to watch TV on weekdays, and after the news broadcast, he had to chase two episodes of anti-Japanese war dramas, and often stayed up until one o'clock in the morning before going to bed. When his children called him and told him to rest early, he always waved his hand nonchalantly and said confidently: "My body is hard, it's not a big deal!" ”
After the Chinese New Year in 2024, things get even more serious. Uncle Zhang has a not-so-good habit, that is, he always loves himself to "prescribe medicine" to himself. On weekdays, once he feels a little unwell, such as a cold, he goes straight to the pharmacy and buys some medicine to deal with it; When I had a headache, I took two painkillers, and I never wanted to go to the hospital, always feeling that the doctor was making a big fuss and tossing blindly. During that time, he felt that his legs and feet were weak, and he was always swaying when he walked, so he took matters into his own hands and bought a bottle of bone-setting wine, and wiped it on his legs every night, thinking that it would relieve it. But after wiping for several days, the symptoms of weak legs did not improve at all, and he heard Lao Li next door say that taking some tonic medicine might work, so he hurriedly went to the pharmacy and bought a bottle of "brain tonic pills" that claimed to be able to cure dizziness and brain swelling. He didn't even read the instructions carefully, just three meals a day, and he ate it violently, and this meal was half a month.
Seeing that in early March, Uncle Zhang's condition deteriorated sharply. Early that morning, he went downstairs to throw out the garbage, and when he came back, he stood in the corridor for more than ten minutes, unable to remember how many floors his family lived on. Neighbor Lao Wang passed by, saw that his face was wrong, and asked with concern, Uncle Zhang stammered and replied: "I seem to ...... I seem to have forgotten which door my house is. Lao Wang hurriedly sent him home, but as soon as Uncle Zhang entered the house, he was like a deflated ball, slumped on the sofa, and kept muttering: "What's wrong with me?" ”
That night, Uncle Zhang, who was full of anxiety, dialed the phone of his son Zhang Qiang, who was far away in Shanghai, and his voice trembled with a hint: "Qiangzi, I feel that my brain seems to be broken, you should come back quickly." Zhang Qiang was so anxious that he hurried home early the next morning and went straight to the Municipal People's Hospital with his father. The doctor first made a comprehensive and detailed examination for Zhang Fulin. The white blood cell count was 8.2×10⁹/L, the red blood cell count was 4.5×10¹²/L, and the hemoglobin was 135g/L, all of which were within the normal range, but the blood sugar was high, and the fasting blood sugar reached 7.8mmol/L.
Immediately after, a CT scan of the brain showed mild atrophy of the cerebral cortex and some abnormalities in the temporal lobe and hippocampus. The doctor also arranged a neuropsychological evaluation using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) for testing, and the result was that Uncle Zhang only scored 19 out of 30 points, which was significantly lower than the normal standard. Subsequent electroencephalogram (EEG) studies show sporadic slow-wave activity in the frontal and temporal lobes. Eventually, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed mild ischemic changes in the white matter of the brain, suggesting a possible vascular lesion.
On the day the results of the examination came out, Director Li, the attending doctor, called Zhang Qiang into the office, looked at the report card, frowned tightly, and said solemnly: "Your father's situation is not just a simple old fool, it is very likely to be an early symptom of Alzheimer's disease, and the possibility of Alzheimer's disease is quite high. His habit of drinking, staying up late, and taking medicine indiscriminately over the years is likely to have 'urged' this disease. Alas, old man, I'd rather stay at home honestly than toss around like this, otherwise the disease will only get worse and worse. Director Li shook his head, his tone was full of regret, and he admonished with a bit of seriousness, "These seemingly inconspicuous little habits are simply chronic poison for the brain." ”
So, what exactly is Alzheimer's disease all about? In fact, Alzheimer's disease is not a single specific disease, but a general term for a series of symptoms caused by brain degeneration. Among them, the most common is Alzheimer's disease, which accounts for about 60% of Alzheimer's cases. The disease silently causes the nerve cells in the brain to die, especially in areas responsible for memory and thinking, such as the hippocampus and temporal lobe. Over time, patients will develop memory loss, be unable to recognize people, and even have basic self-care skills such as eating and dressing.
Data shows that in China, 1 in 10 people over the age of 60 may have an early sign of dementia, and by the age of 80, the proportion will double. As for why you get this disease, scientists have found that a substance called β-amyloid gradually accumulates in the brain, which sticks to each other and forms plaques, like a bunch of obstacles, blocking nerve cells to "breathless". There's also something called the Tau protein, which tangles and knots inside the cell, blocking the brain's signaling. These lesions are not formed overnight, but often after more than ten years, or even twenty years of quiet accumulation, and by the time people realize that something is wrong, the brain has actually suffered a considerable degree of damage. Just like in the previous examination, the brain atrophy shown by CT and the traces of white matter ischemia found in MRI are "incriminating evidence" left by this lesion. To put it simply, Alzheimer's disease is like a "rusty" brain, which is getting more and more sluggish, and may even "strike" altogether.
When it comes to the predisposing factors of Alzheimer's disease, lifestyle habits are definitely an important part that cannot be ignored. When it comes to drinking, many people feel that a small drink in the evening can relax and relieve the fatigue of the day. However, alcohol is not "friendly" to the brain at all. Studies have shown that consuming more than 20 grams of pure alcohol per day (about the equivalent of one or two liquors) can cause the cerebral cortex to thin, especially the frontal lobe, which is responsible for judgment and control. In the long run, brain cells are severely damaged, and the risk of dementia skyrockets.
Talking about staying up late, sleep is actually a precious time for the brain to "clean itself". Usually between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) acts like a diligent cleaner to wash away all the waste products that build up in the brain during the day, including β-amyloid. If you stay up late, this "cleaning work" of the brain will not be completed smoothly, and the waste will accumulate more and more, and the brain will have problems sooner or later.
There is also a "big pit" that is easy to overlook, and that is the indiscriminate taking of medicine. Once the elderly feel soreness and dizziness in their legs, they like to grab some medicine to eat, but they don't know that many drugs can be extremely harmful to the brain if they are not taken properly. For example, some anxiolytics and allergy medications, which contain anticholinergics, can interfere with the proper functioning of a type of brain called acetylcholine (acetylcholine), a chemical that plays a key role in memory. Long-term use of these drugs can increase the risk of dementia by up to 30%. Not to mention those "health products" from unknown sources, their ingredients are unknown, and the dosage is not standardized. Therefore, doctors often advise the elderly to do nothing at all, and never be a doctor for themselves and take medicine indiscriminately.
In the eyes of doctors, there are several things that they are most afraid of the elderly to do. The first thing is that I love to stay up late and watch TV. TV shows are one after another, exciting, and the elderly are often fascinated by it, staring at the screen until midnight. You must know that the blue light emitted by the TV not only stimulates the eyes, but also makes the brain continue to be in a state of excitement, and there is no rest at all. Studies have found that people who sleep less than six hours a day are 25 percent more likely to develop dementia than those who sleep enough for eight hours.
The second is that there is no moderation in drinking. As the saying goes, "drink well", once you drink too much, it can be very damaging to the brain. Alcohol can damage the cerebral blood vessels and aggravate the condition of white matter ischemia, as evidenced by the white spots in the MRI film.
The third thing is to buy medicine and eat it at will. There are a wide variety of medicines in pharmacies, and the elderly often lack professional knowledge, so they casually grab painkillers, cold medicines, tonics, etc., and eat them together, and feel that "it's okay to eat more". But when doctors see this, they are often so anxious that they stomp their feet. For example, bone-setting wine contains alcohol, and if you apply too much, the alcohol will still penetrate into the bloodstream and the brain will suffer.
Fourth, I don't like to use my brain. After retirement, some elderly people like to stay at home in a daze when they have nothing to do all day. You know, the brain is "used in and wasted", and the more idle it is, the easier it is to degenerate. Using the MoCA scale to test cognitive ability, people who use their brains regularly tend to score 5 to 8 points higher than those who don't. Therefore, doctors always tell them repeatedly, these things are really untouchable for the elderly, and the brain can't withstand such a toss.
So, how can we prevent Alzheimer's? In fact, preventing Alzheimer's disease is not an unfathomable and difficult task, the key is to act as soon as possible. First of all, in terms of sleep, it is important to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep every day, and it is best to go to bed before 10 p.m.
When it comes to eating, eat more deep-sea fish, such as salmon. This type of fish is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which have a good protective effect on cerebral blood vessels. Studies have shown that eating fish twice a week reduces the risk of dementia by 15%. At the same time, try to eat less greasy and sweet foods, because once the blood sugar rises, it will damage the blood vessels and the brain will also be "unlucky". For example, the elderly with fasting blood sugar over 7mmol/L must pay special attention.
[This content is a story-based medical and health science article, and any name, place name, or event that appears in the article except for the health science content is artistic processing, and it is not intended to offend or belittle any individual, group or organization. If there is any similarity, it is purely a coincidence, please read it rationally. 】