2023-04-21 08:42:00
(Popcorn News = Reporter Seonsil Choi) [편집자 주: 의학기술의 발달로 평균 수명이 80세를 넘어 곧 100세 시대를 바라보고 있다. 100세를 살아도 아프지 않고 건강하게 지낼 수 있다면, 우리는 얼마든지 멋진 인생을 살아낼 수 있을 것이다. [톡톡 100세 인생]is a corner that generously shares health tips, health information, and health common sense to live healthy in the age of 100.]
In today’s super-aged society, there are many people who already have dementia patients nearby or who are anxious about getting dementia in the future. In particular, if our elderly parents suffer from dementia, they will feel distressed as if the sky is about to collapse. Dementia causes symptoms such as memory loss, language impairment, decreased ability to grasp time and space, decreased ability to calculate, and changes in personality and emotions. In other words, due to dementia, the daily life of the person with dementia and their family is paralyzed. At least in order to protect our beloved parents, from now on we must study and pay attention to dementia.
what is dementia
Dementia is a disease that is diagnosed when it starts with ‘forgetfulness’ that can happen to anyone in the early stages, and gradually becomes difficult to judge things and interferes with daily life. It is known to occur because the nerve cells in the brain are damaged and do not function properly, and when the symptoms become severe, the brain shrinks.
Dementia can be divided into two types depending on the cause of the decrease in nerve cells. One is caused by the death of the nerve cells in the brain itself, and the other is secondary to dementia due to injury or disease. The former has ‘Alzheimer’s dementia’ or ‘Lewy body dementia’, and the latter has ‘vascular dementia’ or ‘frontotemporal dementia (Pick’s disease, etc.)’. In addition, there are various types of dementia, and there is also ‘early onset dementia (premature dementia)’ that occurs in people under the age of 65. Early-onset dementia (pre-senior dementia) is characterized by a rapid progression and a tendency for symptoms to become severe.
Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Dementia
The stage before the onset of dementia is called ‘mild cognitive impairment (MCI)’. In this state, daily life is not significantly hindered. Although there are symptoms such as forgetfulness, it is not to the extent of memory disorder, and it can be said that it is an intermediate stage between a normal state and dementia. However, if this condition is left alone, it will eventually progress to dementia. If you know that you have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), it is good to take quick action to keep the symptoms from progressing or to aim for improvement.
Among dementias, the most frequent is ‘Alzheimer’s dementia’, which occurs when a protein called amyloid beta is abnormally accumulated in the brain and nerve cells die and decrease. In addition, starting from atrophy of the hippocampus of the temporal lobe or the amygdala located at the end of the hippocampus, atrophy gradually appears in the parietal lobe and frontal lobe. The ‘temporal lobe’ is a part that is mainly in charge of color or shape judgment or memory, and if there is an abnormality in this part, memory disorder occurs. The ‘parietal lobe’ is the part that recognizes movement or three-dimensional morphology in space. Moreover, the ‘frontal lobe’ is an important part that brings about thinking, judgment, creativity, and sociality. Therefore, when the parietal lobe or the frontal lobe contracts, core symptoms such as disorientation, disorientation, and inability to cook or manage money may appear. It can also occur along with other dementias.
various symptoms of dementia
The timing of recognizing dementia is when you think, “It seems that your forgetfulness has worsened recently”, and when your family sees your behavior, you may think, “Is it dementia?” There are several representative symptoms of dementia other than forgetfulness, and they can be divided into core symptoms that appear in the early stages and peripheral symptoms that occur as the condition progresses for a certain period of time.
The core symptom is a state in which fundamental judgments in life, such as memory, understanding, and judgment, become impossible for oneself, making it impossible to do things that were taken for granted until now. For example, symptoms such as not being able to remember dates, times, places, or people’s faces, not being able to cook, not being able to manage money, or being disorganized appear. As the symptoms progress, peripheral symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, excitement, personality changes, overeating, anorexia, incontinence, and urination problems may appear.
Characteristics of people prone to dementia
It is easy to get dementia if you have periodontal disease, a bad intestinal environment, diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity, or mouth breathing. Why?
First, ‘periodontal disease causes dementia.’ Recently, what is known as new common sense is the relationship between dementia and the oral cavity. It is one of the symptoms of dementia that one of the symptoms of dementia is disordered manners and the inability to keep the body clean. Among them, ‘toothbrushing’ is also included, and there are many cases in which dementia patients have a lot of plaque in their mouths and bad breath. Periodontal disease is an inflammatory disease that causes gingivitis and the like as bacteria proliferate due to poor oral care such as brushing. If the boundary between the teeth and gums is not managed, not the teeth themselves, bacteria proliferate there and the gums become swollen. As it progresses further, grooves called ‘periodontal pockets’ between the teeth and gums form and become deeper. In this process, the alveolar bone, which is the foundation of the tooth, begins to melt, and the tooth may eventually be lost. When periodontal bacteria increase in the oral cavity, periodontitis occurs. And the substance called cytokine produced by immune cells to attack such germs increases, and these reach the brain through the bloodstream. When this happens, the amount of amyloid beta produced increases, causing dementia. If you work hard on preventing and treating periodontal disease, you can suppress the onset of Alzheimer’s disease itself and delay the progression of dementia.
Second, ‘a bad intestinal environment can cause dementia.’ The intestines play a very important role in our body. In addition to being one of the digestive organs, it has recently been attracting attention as an immune function. In addition, the intestines are also strongly related to dementia. The intestine has its own neural network and has a close relationship with the brain, which is called ‘gut brain correlation’. That’s why you feel bad when you’re stressed. What is receiving particular attention these days is the existence of ‘intestinal flora’, in which various bacterial groups exist like a flower garden on the surface of the intestinal mucosa. The total number of intestinal bacteria living in the small intestine and large intestine ranges from 500 trillion to 1000 trillion, and there are three types of bacteria: beneficial bacteria, harmful bacteria, and opportunistic bacteria. ‘Beneficial bacteria’ include bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria, which have properties that help digestion and improve bowel movements. On the other hand, ‘harmful bacteria’ include Staphylococcus aureus and Welch bacteria. It creates harmful substances, deteriorates the intestinal environment, and causes diarrhea or constipation. ‘Opportunistic bacteria’ are bacteria in the gut that do not belong to either beneficial or harmful bacteria. It has intermediate properties between beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria, and there is a property that participates in the dominant side of the two. Among opportunistic bacteria, ‘Bacteroides’ is attracting attention for its relationship with dementia. According to the report of the National Longevity Medical Research Center in Japan in 2019, the results of the study showed that there were fewer Bacteroides in the intestines of toxic dementia patients.
Third, ‘diabetes increases the risk of dementia.’ Diabetes is a disease in which the function of insulin is deteriorated, sugar is not properly metabolized, and blood sugar is high, resulting in various complications. Having diabetes increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. The two types of dementia have so far been thought to have different causes, but dementia experts claim that diabetes is related to both. For example, ‘Alzheimer’s dementia’ develops when amyloid beta builds up in the brain, but insulin has the function of promoting the decomposition of amyloid beta. Therefore, when diabetes develops and insulin secretion decreases, Alzheimer’s dementia also becomes more likely to develop. In addition, ‘vascular dementia’ occurs secondarily from diseases of blood vessels such as cerebral infarction, but diabetes increases the risk of developing it because it promotes hardening of arteries in the brain and heart.
Fourth, ‘If high blood pressure is neglected, the risk of vascular dementia increases.’ Blood pressure is the pressure exerted on the walls of blood vessels when the heart pumps blood. Although blood pressure is controlled as necessary, if the state of high blood pressure continues, it causes hardening of the arteries by placing a burden on various organs or damaging blood vessels. This can suddenly cause cerebral infarction or myocardial infarction. Hypertension is a factor that increases the risk of vascular dementia. High blood pressure is a dangerous disease that is called the ‘silent killer’. Blood pressure management is essential even in the sense of preventing dementia.
Fifth, ‘obesity can lead to dementia.’ Obesity is the accumulation of energy from food as fat. In the liver, it becomes fatty liver, and when fat accumulates around the internal organs, it becomes visceral fat-type obesity. In this case, unlike subcutaneous fat obesity, it is highly likely to lead to dyslipidemia or hypertension. In addition, when triglycerides are increased, it is easy to cause arteriosclerosis, which increases the risk of cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction. In other words, the risk of vascular dementia is also increased.
Sixth, ‘mouth breathing causes dementia.’ Breathing through the mouth is called mouth breathing. Breathing is primarily through the nose. The nose acts as a filter to prevent foreign substances in the air from entering directly, and has a structure that facilitates breathing, including temperature control. People who have a stuffy nose or mouth breathing due to stress or fatigue continue to make it a habit have a bad effect on the brain. Mouth breathing disrupts the rest of the frontal lobes and consumes a lot of oxygen. In addition to this, the function of the frontal lobe, which is the part that governs logical thinking, creativity, movement and behavior, deteriorates, which is a factor that causes dementia. Mouth breathing has the disadvantage of being easily exposed to diseases such as dementia, deterioration of sleep quality, dry mouth, invasion of foreign substances, and cold.
Create brain habits that don’t age with brain and motor training
It is important to train the brain to prevent dementia. However, brain training alone does not improve blood flow in the brain. For the prevention of dementia, there is a saying “It is good to move your hands frequently and exercise.” In fact, it is known that people who frequently use their fingertips, such as artisans and pianists, do not suffer from dementia. Then, what are the brain and exercise training to prevent dementia and create a brain habit that does not age?
First, there is ‘dual tasking training’. Dual tasking training is being performed as a method of improving working memory (actions of the frontal lobe of the brain) in the field of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) treatment. Dual-tasking is doing two things at the same time. For example, playing rock paper scissors with both hands or counting numbers while walking. Among them, it is said that it is best to use the head and exercise together. When you dual-task, your brain wreaks havoc. The thought of trying to organize the confusion becomes an appropriate stimulus to the brain (frontal lobe), which improves blood flow in the brain and leads to dementia prevention.
Next, there is the ‘thumb stimulation method’. Moving your fingers and hands helps prevent dementia by activating the brain and increasing blood flow. In particular, the thumb stimulation methods include bending the thumb and bending it back, touching the thumb and other fingers in turn, and squeezing and stretching the thumb tightly. The thumb stimulation method helps to prevent dementia, extend healthy life span, improve energy and energy, stabilize anger and irritation, improve memory, enable sound sleep, relieve coldness, improve motor function in daily life, and stabilize blood pressure.
Following the thumb stimulation method, ‘standing on one foot’ creates a brain habit that does not age. How many seconds can we last with one leg raised? Soon your body will shake and dizziness will appear. Strength training is necessary to maintain a brain that can be used for a lifetime. A typical example of strength training is standing on one leg. At first, the body shakes and the leg muscles tense, but that is evidence that muscles not normally used are being used. Since the brain needs new stimulation, increasing the number of standing on one foot or increasing the load can train the brain as well as muscle training.
Following standing on one foot, ‘aerobic exercise’ has an excellent effect on brain habits that do not age. The cause of aging of the body and brain lies in oxidation and glycosylation. The more people who move their bodies through daily aerobic exercise, the higher the amount of antioxidants in the body. Also, aerobic exercise works to drop sugar in the blood or cells. Moreover, aerobic exercise (walking, cycling, indoor cycling, etc.) not only prevents aging and refreshes the mood, but also enhances brain function.
Lastly, ‘cooking for others’ has a positive effect on brain habits that do not age. If there is a problem with cognitive function, it is inevitable that the seasoning of cooking will change, the number of dishes that can be cooked will decrease, or the frequency of buying side dishes will increase. Making food requires a series of flows, starting with the composition of the ingredients, followed by washing, cutting, and cooking the ingredients. It is the role of the frontal lobe to command these movements. Cooking is a housework that activates the brain to the extent that it is not an exaggeration to say that it is brain training. Making food for someone rather than making food for me to eat not only prevents dementia but also gives good stimulation to the brain.
In addition to this, reading and playing make a big contribution to brain habits that don’t age. The hippocampus and synapses are the most important in relation to memory. The hippocampus stores short-term memories, and synapses play an important role in connecting brain neurons to share and transmit information. When you reach your 40s, your memory declines. When you read, synapses are formed, and the brain experiences new experiences, which are stored in long-term memory. After all, getting new information through reading and stimulating synapses can have a great effect on not only memory but also prevention of dementia. In addition, healthy levels of games, baduk, and card games require cognitive abilities, which are very helpful for forgetfulness and dementia. [팝콘뉴스]
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