Unfortunately thinking about dementia is not too difficult for most of us – having seen the impact in our families and/or close friends. Just listened to a series of three podcasts published by The Conversation.
I was familiar with the ideas about Alzheimers – build up of plaque/ tangles in brain (amyloids, tau). And had read recently about some exciting developments in terms of drugs which may slow down development of Alzheimers.
But found the podcasts very interesting on a number of fronts (as a layperson);
- Potential relevance of education and socio economic background to onset of dementia
- Possible relevance of untreated high blood pressure during peoples’ 30s and 40s
- Research of Common Cold Sore Virus (HSV1) as a possible cause/ instigator of Alzheimers
- Impact of sports injuries/ concussion – CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy)
- Typical clinical diagnoses for Alzheimers
- Views of a range of researchers in US and UK
Unfortunately seems like we are going to have to live with Alzheimers and other forms of dementia for some time – and will be more prevalent as the population lives longer. But as one of the researchers reminds us – so little progress on cancer for so long and now we are seeing personalised medicine in cancer treatments. Hopefully we will also see breakthroughs of significance in field of dementia in next few years.
