Book contents
- Unaging
- Reviews
- Unaging
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Part I Foundations: What Do We Need to Know about Optimal Aging?
- 1 Aging Is Not Inevitable, It Is an Opportunity
- 2 The Theory of the Multiple Reserve Factors
- 3 The Brain Is Not an Organ, It Is the Master
- 4 Memory and Cognition
- 5 The Neurodegenerative Diseases of Aging
- 6 Stroke and Vascular Cognitive Impairment
- 7 Other Dementias
- 8 Our Microbiota and How to Do Gene Therapy in the Kitchen
- 9 The Health of the Body and the Physical Reserve Factor
- 10 Depression, Anxiety, and What Good Is Feeling Bad?
- 11 Genetics Aren’t Everything
- Part II Applications: What Can We Do about the Opportunity of Aging?
- Part III Conclusions
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- References
- Index
5 - The Neurodegenerative Diseases of Aging
from Part I - Foundations: What Do We Need to Know about Optimal Aging?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 September 2022
- Unaging
- Reviews
- Unaging
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Part I Foundations: What Do We Need to Know about Optimal Aging?
- 1 Aging Is Not Inevitable, It Is an Opportunity
- 2 The Theory of the Multiple Reserve Factors
- 3 The Brain Is Not an Organ, It Is the Master
- 4 Memory and Cognition
- 5 The Neurodegenerative Diseases of Aging
- 6 Stroke and Vascular Cognitive Impairment
- 7 Other Dementias
- 8 Our Microbiota and How to Do Gene Therapy in the Kitchen
- 9 The Health of the Body and the Physical Reserve Factor
- 10 Depression, Anxiety, and What Good Is Feeling Bad?
- 11 Genetics Aren’t Everything
- Part II Applications: What Can We Do about the Opportunity of Aging?
- Part III Conclusions
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
The neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Lewy body disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are all age-related and caused by genes in only 1-10 percent of cases. Dementia describes a syndrome in which there are cognitive difficulties including impaired memory, judgment, planning, language, and other deficits. Alzheimer’s is the commonest cause of dementia. In the brain in neurodegenerative diseases there is abnormal folding of proteins creating thread-like filaments called amyloid. There is also abnormal activation of inflammation with free radicals and harmful cells. There are things we can do regarding diet and other actions that can lower the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases with aging. High levels of physical and mental activity throughout life along with attention to a healthy plant-based diet can enhance our four reserves and diminish amyloid deposition and overactivity of the immune system. Lifestyle measures can also protect us from the effect of brain pathologies that may develop. There are many causes of memory loss other than Alzheimer’s disease which are completely reversible when properly recognized.
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- UnagingThe Four Factors that Impact How You Age, pp. 76 - 106Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022