Actually, there are many people with dementia who have no symptoms like this?

 

Approximately 30% have high levels of brain 'dementia protein' but do not show cognitive impairment symptoms.

 

Is it possible for someone to have a confirmed diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease pathologically but not show symptoms of dementia such as memory impairment? If so, what could be the actual cause?

 

According to the Australian non-profit media outlet 'The Conversation,' there are quite a few cases where the levels of amyloid-beta protein and tau protein in the brain, which are causes of Alzheimer's disease dementia, are high enough to be clearly diagnosed as dementia pathologically, yet no symptoms appear. According to research published in the international journal ≪Acta Neuropathologica Communications≫, a study by the Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences Neuroscience Institute shows that such cases account for as much as 30% of the total.

The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, is known to begin with the accumulation of brain amyloid-beta proteins and the tangling of tau proteins. When these proteins accumulate, they become toxic to brain cells (neurons), leading to cell death. The exact reason for this is not yet fully understood, but the death of neurons causes the brain to malfunction properly. This manifests as symptoms of dementia, such as memory loss.

 

Don't be sad that there is no gene to overcome Alzheimer's disease... strengthening your immune system through exercise and other means is enough.

 

However, there are quite a few individuals who do not show significant symptoms despite having the fatal biological characteristics of Alzheimer's disease. Recently, there has been growing interest in focusing research on these special individuals. A Dutch research team stated, "These special people who show discrepancies between pathology and cognition are highly resilient and are analyzed to not exhibit dementia symptoms." But why is their resilience particularly high?

The research team studied the brains of three groups. The first group consisted of people who died from Alzheimer's disease, the second group included healthy individuals who died of natural causes, and the third group comprised people who had high levels of Alzheimer's proteins in their brains but showed no signs of dementia throughout their lives or had never been diagnosed with dementia. The research team analyzed that the individuals in the last group had a resilience to Alzheimer's disease.

 

According to research findings, genes related to immune system activity are much more actively expressed in these special individuals. The immune system helps eliminate excessive proteins in the brain. Therefore, genes that facilitate this process may increase resilience against the symptoms (onset) of Alzheimer's disease.

 

U.S. National Center for Health Statistics: "In 2022, 4% of those aged 65 and older were newly diagnosed with dementia."

 

The research team stated, "Even if you do not inherit these genes from your parents, you can increase resilience to Alzheimer's disease symptoms," and "There is substantial scientific evidence that completely changing lifestyle habits and taking Alzheimer's medication can reduce the risk of onset." In particular, physical activities such as exercise have a positive effect on the immune system and help eliminate harmful proteins accumulated in the brain.

 

According to the research team, consistently engaging in more physical activity can help individuals overcome Alzheimer's disease, similar to those who have the lucky genes that increase resilience against the symptoms of Alzheimer's. Additionally, even if people with this gene die from causes other than Alzheimer's disease and live longer, they could eventually have developed Alzheimer's.

 

Meanwhile, according to the 'National Health Statistics Report' published by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 4.0% of Americans aged 65 and older in 2022 were newly diagnosed with dementia (men 3.8%, women 4.2%). This figure is based on data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in the United States, estimating the proportion of non-institutionalized elderly (65 years and older) diagnosed with dementia. The rate of newly diagnosed dementia among adults is 1.7% for those aged 65-74, but rises to 13.1% for those aged 85 and older.