My mom died of what was probably Alzheimer's (we declined the autopsy, which is the only way to know for sure).
She was diagnosed in the mid-90s in her late 70s.
Her brother had it, too (a bit later onset).
I've been trying to learn as much as I can about Alzheimer's (and diabetes, as my dad had that) since then. We're still not sure how it occurs. I see consensus on a couple of things:
- Early onset is not the same disease as late.
- Late onset is the end result of processes that started in middle age.
- There are some genetic risk factors (notably APOE variant 4), but those just raise the risk; nobody's doomed.
- Diabetes also increases risk (personally, I think it's high insulin levels, which most of us - even thin people - have (but obesity is a symptom of it).
- Habitual short sleep is a risk factor.
A couple of decades ago, I saw a correlation between long term NSAID use and lower Alzheimer's diagnoses (long story, but I then had access to all UK medical records - anonymized for researchers). That now looks to be coincidental - but I'm still taking a baby aspirin, because the risks are fairly low
There's also been some work showing that Alzheimer's patients who received ketone salts (which taste horrible, BTW) showed temporary improvement. There are ongoing studies seeing if a 'ketogenic' diet might produce the same effect longer-term.
To the extent that learning new things, like a new language, are protective. I've found that trying to understand the disease has helped me cope with the idea of it - and definitely counts as a 'new thing'.
If that's of interest and you're looking for someplace to start, I'd suggest Peter Attia's interviews with researchers. They're available as podcasts (most are free) - just start with the ones with 'Alzheimer's' in the title. There are show notes if things don't make sense.
Also, if you haven't done so, send some spit off to 23&Me - you want to know if you're APOE4 as that changes what you should do, diet-wise.
Yes, I know that was painfully long for a response, but, as my wife tells me, I'm really bad at being brief - and there's a lot to say here. Thanks to everyone who for to this point - and yes it drives her crazy.
