How can I find out which stage of cognitive decline I am in, and how can I prevent Alzheimer’s disease or dementia?

answered by Jeanette Mostert en Joosje Kist

redactie/vertaling: Katarina Koch

Short answer

Cognitive functions can be measured with neuropsychological research. A psychologist will compare your functions to that of a peer of the same age. By repeating the process, it will become apparent how fast the decline is. Dementia and Alzheimer’s cannot be prevented. You can minimize the risk by living a healthy lifestyle: exercise a lot, have many social contacts, do not smoke or consume alcohol. If you are really concerned and want to know if you have dementia, you can discuss this with your general practitioner.

Longer answer

The decline of brain functions

People who age often notice that their brain functions deteriorate. They find it harder to remember things, or to learn new skills. That is part of aging, and there isn’t much one can do about that. This cognitive decline usually starts around 35 years old, and slowly progresses. In the case of dementia, this process goes much quicker, and it can have serious consequences.

Dementia

There are many types of dementia, Alzheimer being one of them. Dementia is actually an umbrella-term for a number of brain disorders where the functioning of the brain is declining and information is no longer processed as it should be. This, in turn, deteriorates the cognitive functions. Cognitive functions are mental processes such as memory, attention, language, decision-making skills, orientation etc… you can imagine that daily life becomes difficult when these functions decline, and it can be a hard confrontation.

Measuring decline

In order to know how far someone’s brain has declined, we measure their cognitive skills with the help of neuropsychological research. There are many versions of them, but at the heart of it you perform tasks with a psychologist. Such a task could be a memory test. The psychologist compares your score with the average score of your age group, and sometimes with your previous score on this test. But be aware: a lower score does not immediately mean you have dementia! This can also be caused by something else, such as a lessened state of mind, psychological issues or other brain disorders.

For a diagnosis of dementia, they conduct further research with the help of PET-scans and/or MRI-scans. These scans can show the presence of a hallmark protein – the Alzheimer protein – within the cerebral fluid. They can assess the damage to blood vessels in the brain and changes in volume of white and grey matter of the brain, or the ventricles. They can also perform genetic research. We know more and more about which genes are involved in various forms of dementia (though there is so much that we don’t know!). With this type of research, it is possible to detect dementia at an early stage, and therefore begin treatment early.

Prevent dementia?

Dementia has many causes, some are genetic. To prevent it entirely is therefore very tricky. There are some external factors that influence the development of the disease. Having a healthy lifestyle helps: good eating habits, exercise, smoking or drinking habits all have a large impact on the body. High blood pressure, obesity and heightened cholesterol can be harmful to the brain. To reduce the risk of dementia, it helps to stop smoking, not drink alcohol, and exercise a lot. Furthermore, it is important to keep the brain active and challenged. This can be done by learning, to encourage brain growth. It is also good to have a lot of social interactions.

If you are worried about maybe having dementia, or being in the beginning stages of it, it is recommended to ask for a personal consultation with your general practitioner.

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