• Question: can you try to stop amnesia and altsemers?

    Asked by bean da meme to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 6 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 6 Nov 2015:

      Hi.
      Amnesia and Alzheimer’s are both very different, even though there both conditions in the brain.
      I don’t know much about amnesia, but we do study Alzheimer’s and I think it is possible to stop it in the future. One of the features of Alzheimer’s is the build-up of small deposits of a protein into what we call ‘plaques’. We have found a couple of chemicals that can stop these plaques from forming in the lab – but it’s a long way to see if it will stop (or slow) them forming in people.

    • Photo: Siana Jones

      Siana Jones answered on 6 Nov 2015:

      Great physiological answer from Richard.
      Alzheimer’s disease is a type of cognitive (brain) dysfunction. This can be studied in people by getting them to answer questionnaires that test how well their brains are functioning.
      I’ll give you an example:
      In Scotland, in 1936, the government asked all school children aged 11 to answer a set of questions testing their brains. In 2004 some scientists traced over 1000 of those children (who by then were quite a lot older!!(~70)) and asked them to answer the same set of questions. Then they asked them lots of other questions about their lifestyle. The results showed that physical fitness during your life improved cognitive (brain) function and smoking reduced it. (*Lothian birth-cohort studies)

      So, if you want to keep your brain healthy (and perhaps reduce memory loss), then keep exercising and don’t smoke.

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