The first symptoms are subtle. You can’t remember where you left your keys or who you had dinner with the night before. This could be normal everyday forgetfulness, but “when it becomes more frequent, it affects simple things and clearly there is a progressive evolution, that is to say that you have to go to the doctor“, warns Rocío García, a specialist in the neurology department of the Quirónsalud University Hospital in Madrid.
He forget It is one of the most recognized signs of Alzheimer’s disease, along with difficulty expressing wave temporal and spatial disorientation. These changes are due to the “progressive loss of neuronswhich conditions memory, language, orientation or behavior,” explains Rafael Arroyo, head of the neurology department at the Quirónsalud University Hospital in Madrid.
The causes of the disease are still unknown, but It is the most common neurodegenerative pathology that exists.. only in In Spain there are more than 800,000 patientsaccording to estimates from the Spanish Society of Neurology. It is known to be related to vascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity or diabetes, lifestyle and, to a lesser extent, genetic factors, although The main risk factor is age.
Most patients who develop this disease do so from 65 years old and it is expected, Dr. Arroyo said, “that 12% of people over 80 will suffer from Alzheimer’s disease”. In our country, due to the increase in life expectancy and the resulting aging of the population, cases could skyrocket in the coming decades. In fact, OECD forecasts indicate that The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in Spain could double by 2050.
Although it is a disease directly linked to the longevity of the patient, “we know that Up to ten to fifteen years before symptoms appear, toxic proteins may already be stored in the patient’s brain and could cause symptoms.” says the neurologist. In recent years, the mechanisms of operation of two proteins, beta-amyloid and Tau, directly involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, have been identified.
Today, they are already the main biomarkers used to confirm early diagnosis of the disease. “The sooner we can act against these proteins, the better we can stop the disease.” something we have not been able to achieve until now“There is no cure, but there is a way.” treatments that can relieve symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life from the early stages of the disease.
An encouraging fact, says Mar Jiménez, associate head of the diagnostic imaging department at Quirónsalud University Hospital in Madrid, “is that there are multiple avenues of researchThe more open roads we have, the more likely it is that one or more we are able to find a drug or combination of drugs that is therapeutically successful“.
At the same time, specialists point out that importance of healthy lifestyle habits for its impact on the disease. This is called non-pharmacological treatment, lead an active life, physically, intellectually and socially. With his patients, Dr. Arroyo says they do “memory workshops, brain training” and, on a daily basis, it is essential.leading an orderly and routine life, sleeping well and controlling stroke risk factorssuch as high blood pressure. All these habits are very important for Brains with Alzheimer’s disease develop symptoms later or at least help improve the quality of life of the patient and his family.
The neurologist tells how Family environment is the other major factor impacted by Alzheimer’s diagnosis. “It is a disease with very important socio-sanitary characteristics, hence the importance of supporting family members and of course researchso that disease control will actually be better in the future.
The growing incidence of the disease worries experts, even though expectations for treatment are frankly positive. “Until recently we didn’t have treatments that were really changing the disease and with the new advances, the biomarkers, the new treatments and the new therapeutic targets that research is giving us “We believe that over the next ten years there will be a very significant change in the care and treatment of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.”concludes Arroyo.
