Alzheimer's disease (AD). This is a primary and progressive brain disease with unknown etiology. The course of the disease is slow and irreversible, and the clinical manifestations are mainly mental damage. China has entered an aging society. With the aging of the population, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease is increasing year by year, and most people think it is between 5% and 8%. At present, AD has become the fourth leading cause of death in the elderly population after heart disease, malignant tumor and stroke. AD, commonly known as Alzheimer's Harmo's disease, is the largest type of dementia (there are many types of dementia due to different pathogenesis and brain regions). The following will introduce the discovery, biomarkers, pathogenesis, influencing factors, epidemiology and prevention of AD.

AD research history: From 65438 to 0906, Dr. Alz Harmo described the clinical symptoms (memory loss, language disorder, abnormal behavior, paranoia and hallucination) and pathological findings of a female patient Auguste Deter, and named the disease "Alzheimer's Harmo's disease", which means that AD has only been discovered for 100 years.

Biomarkers of AD: In addition to severe atrophy, there are two special pathological changes in the brain of AD patients. One is the abnormal plaque outside the nerve cell, named senile plaque Aβ, and the other is the abnormal filament winding inside the nerve, named neurofibrillary entanglement NFT (I won't say much about the specific mechanism, but I will talk about it later if I am interested). Pathogenesis of AD: There are many hypotheses about the pathogenesis of AD, so it is very difficult to develop drugs. This is also the reason why AD drugs used in clinic are used to delay the disease, rather than to treat or reverse the disease and make patients recover. For example, a cascade hypothesis of amyloid beta protein probably means that a protein called APP is normally generated and cleared in the brain, but one day this balance is broken, and the less it is cleared, the more it accumulates, and finally it gathers together to become insoluble plaques, which adhere to cells, blocking many internal and external channels of cells, and finally the brain neural network is destroyed. There are also neurofibrillary tangles hypothesis, oxidative stress hypothesis, cholinergic hypothesis and so on. Of course, there are also genetic factors, such as APP gene mutation on chromosome 2 1 or PS 1 gene mutation on chromosome 14. About 30% of advanced cases have a family history of dementia. Studies at home and abroad have found that apolipoprotein E(APOE)ε4 allele increases the risk of ad, while APOEε2 allele may have a protective effect. APOEε4 is considered to be the susceptible gene of AD.

Factors affecting the onset of AD: The existing studies believe that the onset of AD is related to age, gender, family history, education level, brain injury, drinking and eating habits. 1. age: according to the survey, the prevalence rate of < 65 years old is < 1%, and the prevalence rate of 65 years old is 1.5%. Every five years, the prevalence rate will double, about 30% over 85 years old. 2. Gender: AD women are more than men, and this difference mainly exists in postmenopausal women. Family history: mainly related to genes, it is recognized as one of the risk factors of AD. Education level: Education level is closely related to mental decline. A large number of studies have proved that the higher the education level, the smaller the incidence of dementia. A survey of 778 elderly people (over 59 years old) in Italy found that there was an obvious negative correlation between education level and the occurrence of dementia, and the probability of dementia among illiterate people was 16 times that of people with only secondary education. The incidence of dementia in manual workers is 2 ~ 3 times higher than that in professional workers with mental work. The higher the education level, the lower the risk of dementia. This conclusion is applicable to all types of dementia, including VD and AD. Of course, not everyone does. Charles Kao, a famous Nobel Prize winner, and Margaret Thatcher, President Reagan of the United States, also got AD in their later years. . . Living habits: drinking tea and participating in social activities may have protective effects on AD, but there is a certain dose-effect relationship. Moderate and severe smoking will increase the risk of AD 1.57%. It is also reported that meditation, walking, jogging, dancing and eating citrus fruits will reduce the risk of dementia, while eating rapeseed may increase the risk of AD.

Epidemiological survey of AD: In 20 15 years, about 9.9 million new cases will be diagnosed worldwide-every 3 seconds 1 case. By 2050, the number of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease in the world will increase from the current 46 million to1.31.50 million. It is estimated that the cost of dementia treatment in the United States is about $8 1 800 million, but it is expected to soar to $1trillion in 2065 and $2 trillion in 2030, equivalent to the largest economy in the world, exceeding the market value of Apple and Google.

Prevention of AD: Exercise, life lies in exercise. Physical exercise will accelerate people's blood circulation and make brain cells get enough nutrition and oxygen. The elderly can prevent AD by taking part in sports regularly. Brainwashing: people's thinking function is also to "use it and discard it." Fitness balls, finger exercises, calligraphy, abacus, playing musical instruments and learning foreign languages can all prevent AD. Diet: Eating more vegetables, beans, fruits, fish and unsaturated fatty acids and drinking more red wine will reduce the risk of cognitive impairment. Control blood pressure and blood lipid, and don't smoke.

Finally, CCTV's public service advertisements are very touching. We should live a healthy life to prevent AD. For AD patients, be patient and respectful, and don't let the closest relatives become "the most familiar strangers".