Mental Health
Here Are the Early Signs and Possible Prevention Measures for Dementia.
How to recognize dementia at earlier phases and take precautions to slow cognitive decline
Introduction
As neurological disorders adversely affect millions of people, I have a strong interest in understanding the early signs and potential root causes, learning about preventative measures, and taking necessary actions.
Dementia reflects symptoms caused by brain disorders such as impaired functioning of intellectual abilities. However, age-related mental decline is different from dementia as a condition. So, dementia might happen at younger ages too. It is not considered a single disease itself.
Scientists theorize about root causes and contributing factors to dementia, such as neurological decline, severe health conditions like chronic stress and inflammation, environmental toxins, and genetic factors.
Even though there is no established cure for dementia yet, common symptoms such as memory decline and personality changes are well documented in the literature. Rather than treating dementia as a condition, the approach seems to be treating the causes, such as nutritional deficiencies or biological defects, via medication and lifestyle changes.
The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, affecting millions of people. Alzheimer’s disease shows abnormalities in the brain. The first one is abnormal clumps of protein known as beta-amyloid. The second one relates to damaged proteins known as neuro-fibrillary tangles affecting nerve cell functioning in the brain.
There is some medical progress in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. For example, the FDA recently approved medication, as I pointed out in this article: Mixed Sentiments And Thoughts For FDA’s Approval of Aduhelm for Alzheimer’s Disease in America: Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating disorder affecting 6.2 million Americans.
My aim in this article is to provide an overview of the early signs of dementia and possible prevention measures based on symptoms and known root causes using effective lifestyle changes. I incorporate a brief literature review from credible resources.
I believe that if we identify symptoms early, we may slow down the progress of further decline.
Early Signs of Dementia
Even though later stages of dementia seem to show distinct symptoms that can be identified by professionals easily with medical inspections, early stages, particularly young-onset dementia, can be relatively subtle and thus more challenging to diagnose.
As highlighted in this paper, “a diagnosis of dementia is devastating at any age, but diagnosis in younger patients presents a particular challenge. The differential diagnosis is broad as late presentation of metabolic disease is common, and the burden of inherited dementia is higher in these patients than in patients with late-onset dementia.”
The literature on dementia is comprehensive. Scientific papers document five types of dementia, namely cortical, sub-cortical, progressive, primary, and secondary. The first two relate to brain regions such as the cortex, the last three are about the conditions. The primary one is directly associated with brain decline, and the second one relates to other diseases, such as infection.
Many resources classify dementia under seven stages:
1 — No mental decline
2 — Low level of cognitive decline
3 — Mild level of mental decline
4 — Moderate level of mental decline
5 — Moderately severe mental decline
6 — Severe mental decline
7 — Extreme mental decline
From my understanding of the growing medical literature, behavioral changes such as withdrawal from previously enjoyed activities, disorientation, apathy, restlessness, irritability, sense of hostility, hallucinations, and paranoia are considered noticeable early signs at levels 2, 3, and 4.
Mental changes such as the decline in memory, focus, overall thinking skills, confusion, frequently misplacing things, and language problems such as jumbled speech are commonly mentioned as early signs of dementia.
In addition, mood swings, including anxiety, nervousness, feeling lonely, difficulty sleeping, and muscular discomfort affecting movements and even causing falls are some noticeable early signs.
More details about the early signs of dementia can be found at this site.
Possible Measures for Dementia Prevention
Since contributing factors and symptoms are understood to some extent, scientists, clinicians, and therapists theorize about medical interventions and the effectiveness of lifestyle changes.
Stress seems to be a significant culprit for mental decline. For example, this 2010 study published in the Brain aims to analyze the relationship between psychological stress in midlife and the development of dementia in late life. Researchers found “an association between psychological stress in middle-aged women and development of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease.”
What can we do about preventing cognitive decline? From my studies in the 90s, the most commonly mentioned lifestyle change relates to improving cognitive reserves, such as using natural brain boosters.
Physical movement, mental exercise, healthy nutrition, effective stress management, improving sleep quality, removing toxins using effective methods, and reducing chronic inflammation can be effective lifestyle interventions.
The beneficial impact of moderate exercise on the brain is well known. Some types of physical activity, such as aerobics and fasting by creating alternative energy for the brain, can increase neurogenesis, as I touched on in this article Rewiring Your Brain by Activating BDNF & β-Hydroxybutyrate. How to initiate neurogenesis and enhance cognitive reserves with simple lifestyle habits.
Mental exercising and using daily chores as brain boosters can have a significant effect on the cognitive system. I introduce a few natural brain boosters, such as expressive writing, in this article: Everyday Activities As Brain Boosters: How to use daily chores to boost our brain power and reduce the chance of cognitive decline.
Refraining from chronic stress and preventing chronic inflammation is essential for brain health. Dealing with emotional stress is crucial as this type of stress has a tremendous adverse impact on the brain. Emotional Stress As Larger Part Of The Iceberg In Energy Deficiency: Emotional stress and drained energy can prevent us from living a satisfying life.
These simple lifestyle changes can improve the growth of healthy brain tissues before they get damaged and turn unhealthy. However, once we lose brain function to a certain point, it can be challenging to activate it further.
One eye-opening understanding is the association of Alzheimer’s disease with diabetes. This disease is informally characterized as type three diabetes, as patients with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
For example, this paper published on Neuron points out that “diabetes and impaired brain insulin signaling are linked to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.” Furthermore, from a genetic perspective, the paper indicates “the association between diabetes and AD-associated amyloid pathology as stronger among carriers of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 gene allele, the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.”
My understanding from the literature, preventing diabetes can contribute to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease to some extent. Type two diabetes is closely related to metabolic syndrome, which I introduce in this article: Fix Metabolic Syndrome, Live a Longer and Healthier Life: Metabolic inflexibility underlies major health issues.
Known indicators of metabolic syndrome are high blood pressure, high blood glucose, excessive abdominal fat, and abnormal cholesterol levels. So, I believe that addressing metabolic syndrome symptoms might contribute to the potential prevention of dementia.
Insulin resistance is another piece of this puzzle. For example, this study points out that “insulin resistance increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Reductions in cerebral glucose metabolic rate as measured by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in parietotemporal, frontal, and cingulate cortex are also associated with increased Alzheimer’s disease risk and can be observed for years before dementia onset.”
Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia lay the groundwork for diseases such as type two diabetes, heart failure, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer at later stages of life. I shared my findings on insulin resistance in this article: Why Insulin Resistance is the Elephant in the Room: And how to reduce insulin resistance and increase sensitivity naturally.
Addressing insulin resistance and implementing lifestyle changes to increase insulin sensitivity can be beneficial as preventative measures. For example, physical exercise, caloric restriction, and time-restricted feeding are three proven techniques to reduce insulin resistance and increase sensitivity.
Conclusions
As neurological disorders adversely affect our lives. Our mental health is critical for our survival and longevity. Thus, understanding the early signs and potential root causes, learning about preventative measures, and taking corrective actions are essential.
Dementia relates to brain disorders, particularly impaired functioning of intellectual abilities. We need to understand the difference between age-related mental decline and actual dementia as a condition.
Alzheimer’s, affecting millions of people, is the most common type of dementia. This disease demonstrates abnormalities in the brain, such as beta-amyloid and neuro-fibrillary tangles affecting nerve cell functioning in the brain. As I point out in this story: We Desire Longevity but Living with Dementia Can Hurt.
Primary contributing factors to dementia are neurological decline, severe health conditions, chronic stress, excessive inflammation, toxins, and genetics. Unfortunately, there is no established cure for dementia. Thus, treatments relate to the causes, such as deficiencies via medication and lifestyle changes.
Scientists and practitioners commonly categorize dementia into seven stages. Later stages of dementia might show distinct symptoms and thus can be identified by professionals quickly. However, young-onset dementia can be relatively subtle, therefore, more challenging to diagnose. An earlier diagnosis can reduce the effects of decline when appropriate measures are taken.
There is evidence of Alzheimer’s disease associated with type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. Thus, addressing these issues as early as possible can be a valuable health measure to prevent dementia in later years.
A viable approach is to prevent cognitive decline as early as possible. Thus, a viable solution is to improve cognitive reserves via lifestyle changes. Physical movement, mental exercises, healthy nutrition, effective stress management, improving sleep quality, refraining from toxins, and reducing chronic inflammation can be effective lifestyle interventions.
As activating damaged brain tissues can be challenging, improving the growth of healthy brain tissues via effective lifestyle changes and early medical interventions can be an excellent approach to preventing dementia.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a mindful and joyful life.
Disclaimer: Please note that this story is not health advice. I shared my research, experience and perspectives for information purposes only, If you have associated conditions, please consult your healthcare professionals.
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About the Author
I am a technologist, postdoctoral researcher in cognitive science, author of several books, chief editor of multiple publications, and digital marketing strategist with four decades of industry experience.
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