I heard a man speak the other day about diseases. I wondered about this myself but never heard anyone say it until this man. Why all the sudden would we have someone in everyone's family sick with it? It would be considered an epidemic by CDC if it were anything else.
I don't think we have any evidence that Alz is related to a spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), however there is a lot we don't know yet about the dementias. We would be wrong to limit any investigation into any possible cause.
Alzheimer's seems to be caused by the accumulation of substances in the brain that ends up killing the neurons. I imagine the cure for it will be enzymatic, so the brain can break down and vacuum out the substances that accumulate... or maybe these substances are Nature's way of saying that it is time for the next generation to take its place at the Elder table. Medicine seems to be able to keep the heart going forever now. Other organs, e.g. brain, liver, and kidneys may signal when enough is enough.
Our generation tends to keep our brain more active due to social media We are reading a lot via the Internet. My grandparents from a century ago didn't have that option unless they were able to read several books a week. My Dad's Mom read 3 books a week, and she never developed any known memory problems, she lived to be 91.
My grandmother had two sisters and 5 brothers although I never knew about any of the brothers except one that I found his granddaughter through genealogy. In one of the three sisters, every girl child she had died of Alzheimer's (5), in another sister she had one daughter die of it and in my mothers immediate family she died with what they called dementia. I then found out in the brothers, the one member I found a man died of Alzheimer's.
Therefore my concern now is with my two sisters and I and wondering if it is of course genetic, which sounds like it is, or if possibly it was, where they all lived (Texas), what they ate, water supply, etc???? Common denominators.
We have already had one cousin about our age (70) diagnosed with Alzheimer's but she was diabetic and suffered strokes that her family did not notice. Anyway we are "next in line" so to speak and we want to stay clear of it, if at all possible. We do not want to put our children through what we went through caring for Mom, but for ourselves as well.
Back generations ago, the elders use to pass on in their 50's and 60's of other health issues as modern medicine could help the heart, cancer, or other serious diseases. Thus memory issues were only seen in those who had beat the odds and lived into their 80's and 90's. Back then anyone elderly with memory issues was labeled *senile*.
Each new generation, new meds to help one live to be 70's and 80's... and now into their 90's and 100's. Now there is talk about living to 110. But sadly modern medicine for memory issues hasn't caught up with modern times :(