September is World Alzheimer’s month and September 21 is World Alzheimer’s Day, during which time people from around the globe unite to raise awareness and challenge stigmas and discrimination that still exist around Alzheimer’s disease and all types of dementia.
At Krembil Brain Institute, UHN, Alzheimer’s solutions are being relentlessly pursued by world-leading scientists including Dr. Donald Weaver, a Senior Scientist and the Krembil Chair for Drug Discovery Research related to Alzheimer’s Disease. As one of the most esteemed minds in the field, Dr. Weaver provides answers about Alzheimer’s and the research being done at UHN towards treating people afflicted with the disease.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
The most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that first affects your memory. As the disease gets worse, it affects other parts of your thinking such as your attention, planning and language.
Amongst the top 10 diseases recognized by the World Health Organization, Alzheimer’s is the only one for which we have no definitive diagnostic tests and no disease-modifying therapies.
How widespread is Alzheimer’s disease?
While many age-related diseases are decreasing in incidence and prevalence, Alzheimer’s is the fastest growing disease in the world.
At least 55 million people are believed to be living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, and it is estimated that more than 1.7 million Canadians will be living with the disease by 2050 – three times the current number, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
What are the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease?
People with Alzheimer’s usually have trouble with their short-term memory. Potential symptoms include:
- Forgetting things more often
- Repeating themselves
- Misplacing things
As the disease worsens over time, other thinking problems develop. These may involve getting lost in familiar places, and having trouble with regular daily activities. When the disease becomes very bad, people often begin to lose their long-term memory.
What causes Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s is caused by a buildup of proteins in the brain. This buildup – called amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles – causes nerve cells to have trouble communicating with each other and to die early. Many environmental and risk factors are also associated with disease development, including a history of head injury, clinical depression and high blood pressure.
When to seek help?
If you are experiencing potential symptoms, it is important to consult with a physician. Several methods and tools are used to help determine if a person with thinking or memory problems has the disease. These include but are not limited to:
- Conducting tests of memory, problem solving, attention, counting and language
- Ordering standard medical tests that can help identify other possible causes of the problem
- Administering a psychiatric evaluation to determine if depression or another mental health condition is causing or contributing to a person’s symptoms
- Performing brain scans to support an Alzheimer’s diagnosis or rule out other possible causes for symptoms
How is Alzheimer’s disease treated?
While there is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, there are medicines and other treatments that can slow down its progression, particularly when used together. Recommended activities to curb its onset include:
- Doing more social and mental activities and learning new things (such as a new language, or painting), or taking part in activities with others such as playing games or solving puzzles
- Being more active and doing more cardio exercise such as riding a stationary bicycle, swimming, joining a gym or going on brisk walks
- Having a diet that’s colourful, low in processed food and refined sugars, and has a variety of nutrients and food groups
Overall it is important to stay in good health. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or high cholesterol, these need to be managed well as these conditions can worsen dementia.
What is being done at UHN to better understand Alzheimer’s?
The world-class team at Krembil Brain Institute are determinedly pursuing cures through the use of innovation and technology in basic, translational and clinical research.
As well as being home to the largest multidisciplinary clinical and research neurological facilities in North America, Krembil Brain Institute is one of the foremost training centres in Canada for medical and scientific leaders in neuroscience, and has one of the leading comprehensive radiosurgery teams in the world.
Some of the incredible research breakthroughs in recent years include pursuing the possibility that Alzheimer’s may be an autoimmune disease that attacks the brain, and unveiling promising pathways for early diagnosis and intervention.
What services are available at UHN for those who have Alzheimer’s disease?
At the Toronto Western Hospital (TWH) Memory Clinic, patients are assessed and supported by a staff of neurologists, geriatricians, psychiatrists, nurses and social workers. Education is also an important component of work being done, with University of Toronto residents from neurology and geriatrics rotating through the Clinic. For information about the referral process, please get in touch with the Clinic by phone at 416-603-5232, or visit the Memory Clinic.
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