Mental Stimulation Helping Prevent Alzheimer's Disease: Can Keeping the Mind Active Prevent Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's disease is the most frequent form of dementia. It affects up to 4 million Americans, not to point out the extreme affects it has on spouses who serve as caregivers. What if there was a treatment that could prevent Alzheimer's from occurring? What if someone you know already has the onset of this disease and it could slow down the progress? It might just be a possibility.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease, which is characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration combined with declining activity of daily living and behavioral changes. It is the most common type of cognitive function loss. The cause is unknown, but genetic factors are thought to play a major part in the disease.

Researchers are now convinced that mental stimulation can prevent patients who may develop Alzheimer's such as the aging population. As an individual ages the chances of developing Alzheimer's increases. Exercising your mind as you grow older is as important as exercising the body. Keeping the mind active by doing mental exercises and learning may help greatly in the prevention of development of pathologies associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease

When Alzheimer's begins to destroy brain cells, there are no outward signs of the disease. After awhile, small memory lapses appear and grow more serious such as:

• Forgetting the names of well-known people and places
• Forgetting the words to articulate what they want to say
• Forgetting the location of everyday objects used

A person with Alzheimer's will also show a range of responses to their own behavior and condition:

• Denial (which occurs in the early stages)
• Blames others for their mistakes
• Frustration, agitation, rage
• Vacant despair, with no apparent recognition that they were once a different person.

Such things as doing crossword puzzles, reading books, or learning a new language can help prevent the development of Alzheimer's. Even if a person has developed the disease, it can still help. For the patient with Alzheimer's the mental stimulation can help prevent depression, which often occurs, by allowing them to do things with the capacities they still have.

One group of researchers is using video games as a stimulation source. They provide mental stimulation along with hand and eye coordination as well. The recall of information quickly while playing video games can play a major role in stimulating the brain and possibly preventing Alzheimer's. Sodoku, which has been growing in popularity, is also a great way of stimulation.

Cognitive stimulation along with medication at the early onset of the disease has been shown to greatly slow the progress. Healthcare costs for the roughly 4 million Americans with Alzheimer's exceed $100 billion dollars a year, according to the Alzheimer's Association.