Alzheimer’s Disease - Prevention & Treatment

When it comes to treating medical ailments that can afflict the human body, Alzheimer’s disease ranks among the most problematic ones. While there are no specific medications to cure this malady, the symptoms are serious, complicated, and often, distressing for the patient as well as his/her family members, friends, and other close ones. Most of the mental faculties of a person go for a toss when (s)he falls prey to Alzheimer’s disease, and the ability to recognize familiar faces can also be significantly hampered. The proneness to get affected by this disease increases with age, and, in case any of your relatives is indeed suffering from Alzheimer’s, you need to be very patient and understanding, while taking care of him/her. You can take care for the elderly person on your own, or hire the services of professional caregivers for the purpose. In this article, we will deal with some of the ways to lower the chances of Alzheimer’s disease. A few treatment tips for this malady would be discussed later.

• Follow a balanced, healthy diet – Make sure that your dietary habits are healthy enough. Go for light, frequent meals, and drink plenty of water. Beverages like Green Tea also possess significant beneficial effects. Stay away from food that is too oily and has high fat content.
• Exercise on a regular basis – Follow such exercise regimes that are aimed at building up a better co-ordination between the different parts of your body. You should also make an attempt to make your muscles stronger. However, be very careful to avoid accidental head bumps, and other such injuries.
• Catch up on your sleep – Do not be over-zealous in your daily activities, sacrificing upon necessary hours of sleep in the process. Inadequate sleep will keep you drowsy and inattentive during the day, and will do no favors to your overall mood either. Try to sleep for around eight hours every day, to keep yourself healthy and fresh.
• Be socially active – A feeling of loneliness and isolation often lies at the root of Alzheimer’s disease. With advancement of years, you need to adopt a domestic care regime, which would provide you with ample opportunities to be socially active. Make it a point to catch up with friends/relatives on weekends, become a member of a well-known club, and call your near ones regularly. With the popularity of social networking sites steadily on the rise, you can also join in and make a few new acquaintances.

De-stress yourself – Never get mentally bogged down, whatever the circumstances might be. Excessive stress is extremely harmful for the brain cells, and can raise the probability of serious health hazards, like Alzheimer’s disease. You can meditate on a regular basis, to keep your inner peace, calmness and fortitude intact.

While the above tips can help you stave off the risk of Alzheimer’s disease to a considerable extent, you also need to be aware of the ways in which care service should be provided to a family member/relative, in case the disease actually affects him/her. Some tips to treat an Alzheimer’s patient are:

• Look after the diet of the patient – Make sure that the person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease gets enough of vitamin in his/her diet. Fishes should also be a necessary component in the meals (s)he has. Eating carrots (raw) is widely recommended by health practitioners as well.
• Modify the lifestyle – Discipline is one of the key elements that can prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease from becoming too pronounced. If the concerned person is in the habit of taking frequent puffs, or having too many glasses of liquor, such harmful habits have to be immediately cut down upon.
• Prepare a detailed daily routine – Keep in mind that, people who have Alzheimer’s disease lose the ability to remember their regular, scheduled tasks. Help him/her out, by preparing a written routine, which (s)he can easily refer to. In case the patient develops certain misconceptions/hallucinations, never argue with them. Exchange of heated words will only make their condition worse.

Apart from the above basic care-giving tips, specific medicines also need to be administered to the patients of Alzheimer’s disease, to keep the seriousness of this ailment under check. Get in touch with a qualified medical practitioner, who will be able to prescribe medications that would be suited to the age of the patient, as well as the level of the disease. There might not yet be any sure-fire drugs to cure Alzheimer’s disease, but proper care and attention can go a long way in keeping the patients comfortable and active.