No known cure but can slow the rate
Published on: Friday, September 30, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: There is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease (also known as just Alzheimer's), according to US acclaimed Consultant Geriatrician, Prof Dr John Morley of Saint Louis University, Missouri."However, certain medications can slow its progress," he said when met at the recent 12th National Geriatrics Conference hosted by Sabah for the first time.Alzheimer's disease (also known as just Alzheimer's) is progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to degeneration of the brain.
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The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that controls perception, memory, thoughts, language and consciousness. "In Alzheimer's disease, abnormal protein deposits in the brain destroy cells in the areas of the brain that control memory and mental functions," said Prof Dr Morley who is one of America's foremost authorities on geriatrics. (Geriatrics is the branch of medicine dealing with the diseases, debilities, health and care of old people).Alzheimer's disease is partly hereditary in that it tends to run in families.
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However, it was pointed out that just because a relative has Alzheimer's disease, it does not mean that another family member will have the disease. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia among older adults, accounting for about half of all cases. Dementia is a general term for memory loss (remembering) and loss of other intellectual abilities (thinking and reasoning) serious enough to interfere with a person's daily life and activities.
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It usually starts slowly and gets worse over time, destroying memory and thinking skills, resulting in difficulties with language and eventually the ability to carry out the simplest tasks (examples, eating, dressing, etc). These symptoms occur when the brain is damaged by certain diseases (including Alzheimer's disease).Prof Dr Morley said statistics show that at about the age of 70, one in five people have some degree of dementia. "By the time they are 85, about half of the population have some degree. There are many different causes of dementia, so it's important to recognise and look for those causes."Asked why a cure for Alzheimer's disease hasn't been found after years of research, he said research takes a lot of time. "No, not an easy answer. Secondly, people sometimes go in the wrong direction. Thirdly, there are many diseases that we call Alzheimer's disease and people are just starting to separate it out and saying maybe we have been treating things that we think are Alzheimer's but are not Alzheimer's," he explained."The physician has to look carefully because we see there are people who have sleep apnea, for example, but they are being treated for dementia. We have to define the disease carefully. We know there are people who get very early Alzheimer's disease, a very different disease from people who get it when they are 60 to 80. And very different from the disease when somebody gets it at 90."Sharing the outcome of a study where he looked at people (who had early dementia) all the way, Prof Dr Morley said: "If we fixed their ability to hear, if we got them involved in useful programmes, doing all the good things, if they exercised and if they got treated for the diseases they had, half of them were better six years later."We also showed that just by doing medication, half were better but people don't always comply with their medication."The conference also heard that Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second most common form of dementia and is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain – usually from a stroke or series of strokes.Saying some causes of dementia are treatable, Prof Dr Morley said if a person has a treatable cause of dementia and is treated early, he or she does not get dementia. "However, if left untreated, persons with vascular dementia can go on to Alzheimer's disease."The treatable causes of dementia (or cognitive impairment) include sleep apnea, depression and deficits in vision and hearing. "Patients treated for sleep apnea get better. They fix the sleep apnea and the dementia goes away," he said in response to a question.Offering advice, Prof Dr Morley stressed that lifestyle modifications are an important component of the management of dementia. He recommended a set of interventions such as Mediterranean diet, exercise, socialisation, computer games and treatment of vascular disease (that is, small blood vessel and big blood vessel disease). "The data supporting a Mediterranean diet to slow the onset of dementia appear to be relatively strong," he said in his published paper.He also revealed that epidemiologic studies support the increased intake of fish consumption as decreasing the incidence of Alzheimer's disease.Asked whether coconut oil is a cure for Alzheimer's as widely spread through the social media, Prof Dr Morley said : "No, but there is very good evidence for olive oil. Both in animals and humans, interventional studies suggest a positive effect of extra-virgin olive oil."However, he made it clear that while olive oil is not going to cure Alzheimer's, it may slow the process down. "So I tell all my patients in the US to use a lot of olive oil for cooking, drinking and putting it on their salad, on all their food."According to him, research studies on olive oil were carried out in Spain and Finland over a five-year period. "So if coconut oil is going to make a difference, you need a lot of research. There is no study as yet for coconut oil that is big enough to say it is the same as olive oil in slowing the progress of Alzheimer's."While conceding there is hope for coconut oil (perhaps in the future), Prof Dr Morley, however, would tell his patients, "No, you should use olive oil because the data available is better for olive oil. My patients ask me about coconut oil and I say at least in the US, we have got easy access to olive oil and we know that it works."He added: "But if you have got easier access to coconut oil and it is cheaper, then you use that. I am not saying it is wrong but we don't have the data." At this juncture, Prof Dr Morley suggested that people in Sabah carry out coconut oil studies properly and make a big difference because it is pointless without the studies. "You need large numbers of people. We are not talking like you take coconut oil and six months later, you are normal totally. Maybe you improve by 1pc. Very small improvement but when you are old and demented, slowing Alzheimer's down by a little bit makes a big difference because your family can look after you better and things like that," he pointed out.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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