Experts' Views on the Causes of Dementia

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting one in every seven persons over the age of 70 in the United States. "People are living longer in many developing countries. More diabetes, weight gain, and smoking are on the rise, and these risk factors, together with aging, are raising the chance of Alzheimer's and related dementias "James Leverenz, MD, director of Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, says Here are five dementia causes that experts want you to know about. Continue reading—and don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had COVID to protect your health and the health of others.According to physicians, the following five things cause dementia.

1 Dementia and a Sedentary Lifestyle

Regular exercise has been shown in studies to reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. "This suggests that, even if you have a family history of Alzheimer's disease or just terrible luck, you can delay the development of the disease by being cognitively and physically active, and you can begin at any age," says Andrew E. Budson, MD. "So enhance your cognitive activities, increase your physical activities, live a brain-healthy lifestyle, and take charge of your cognitive destiny now!"

2 Hearing Loss

"Hearing loss is thought to be responsible for 8% of dementia cases. This suggests that 800,000 of the almost 10 million new cases of dementia identified each year could be due to hearing loss "Dr. Frank R. Lin concurs. "Hearing loss can make it more difficult for the brain to hear and fill in the gaps, causing it to work harder. This comes at the price of other systems of thought and memory. Another idea is that hearing loss accelerates the shrinkage of the aging brain. A third theory is that hearing loss causes people to become less socially involved, which is critical for staying mentally occupied. If you can't hear properly, you're less likely to go out, which means your brain is less engaged and active."

3. Dementia and LATE

Limbic-predominant age-related encephalopathy (LATE) is a type of dementia caused by the accumulation of a protein called TDP-43 in brain cells. "LATE is thought to be responsible with roughly 15% to 20% of all dementias," explains Dr. Budson. "In addition to one or more other brain disorders, many persons with dementia have LATE pathology. For example, an individual may have Alzheimer's plaques and tangles, as well as LATE pathology and ministrokes (vascular pathology). It turns out that over 40% of dementia patients have at least some LATE disease in their brain. All of data indicates that LATE is fairly common."

4 Genetics and Dementia

"I recommend specific functional testing that measures Alzheimer's-associated immune reactivity to identify the early stage of neurodegenerative processes and/or to monitor the effectiveness of lifestyle modifications for Alzheimer's disease when a person has an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease due to their family history," says Melanie Keller, ND. "I order a test that includes a person's genetic (APO-E) status in my practice because one of the three versions (APOE-e4) was the first risk gene found and remains the gene with the greatest impact on Alzheimer's risk."

5 Age and Dementia

The greatest significant risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is growing older, with the likelihood of developing the condition doubling every five years once you reach 65.Growing older is the most major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, with the risk of having the disease doubling every five years once you reach 65. "Those over 65 should be aware of the early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and seek a cognitive exam every five years to be proactive," Dr. Keller advises.