Latest research: Alzheimer's disease is quietly getting younger

In the past, when we mentioned dementia, we would naturally associate it with the elderly, but now this "old age disease" is quietly becoming younger.

Dementia is a clinical syndrome characterized by acquired intellectual impairment with cognitive impairment as the core symptom, which is manifested as impairment of cognitive function in memory, language function, visual-spatial ability, attention, analysis and problem-solving ability, accompanied by some personality changes and abnormal mental behavior. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. There are about 15.07 million dementia patients in my country aged 60 and above, of which 9.83 million are Alzheimer's patients.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: Alex Boyd 6

According to the latest data from the "Alzheimer's Patient Insight Report", Alzheimer's disease in my country is becoming younger.

The report investigated the real situation of more than 1,000 Alzheimer's patients and their families. The results showed that although 62.1% of the people were first diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease between the ages of 60 and 79, 21.3% of the patients first developed the disease when they were younger than 60 years old.

What is more noteworthy is that among patients who developed the disease before the age of 60, 14.7% developed it between the ages of 50 and 59, 4.1% developed it between the ages of 40 and 49, and 2.5% developed it before the age of 40. Alzheimer's disease is actually younger than we think.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: Matt Bennett

Through risk factor assessment, neuropsychological examination, imaging examination and biomarker testing, people with Alzheimer's disease or at risk can be screened or identified, which is conducive to early diagnosis and intervention of the disease.

However, the report found that more than 60% of the patients' communities had not conducted early cognitive screening, and 12.8% of the patients were unaware of the cognitive screening. Insufficient early intervention cognition can easily cause patients to miss the "golden window" for treatment, that is, the stage of mild cognitive impairment. Therefore, the report recommends early screening, diagnosis and intervention to buy more time to delay and prevent Alzheimer's disease.

For people at risk of the disease, in addition to early screening, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, proper exercise, and adequate sleep are also important in preventing Alzheimer's disease.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: Tiago Muraro

References

[1]https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06544-0?utm_medium=organic_social&utm_source=zhihu&utm_campaign=CONR_PF020_ENGM_AP_CNCM_002EA_weeklyS

Author: Shi Nanping, a popular science writer

Reviewer: Tang Qin, Director and Researcher of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association