What do you think causes dementia?
This is a “Social” question because I’m asking for opinions, not for science. It’s known that the various forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s, are neurodegenerative diseases that cause the death of brain cells, memory loss, and cognitive decline. But, nobody knows what really causes dementia or why it’s becoming more prevalent.
I don’t accept the idea that more people are simply being diagnosed with dementia. If you’ve ever been around someone who’s losing mental capacity, you know that it doesn’t take a brilliant diagnostician to make the call. The symptoms and decline are much too apparent.
I also don’t believe that people are just living much longer and, thus, reaching ages when dementia occurs. There are certain conditions, such as frontotemporal dementia, that are increasingly common and affect healthy patients in their 40s and 50s.
Even the hereditary link is uncertain. A person might have no history of dementia in his/her family yet become very ill; it’s equally true that someone can have a strong family background but never suffer.
So, what do you think? Are we being harmed by all the poisons that we ingest through foods and beverages? Could breathing filthy, polluted air affect us? Maybe it’s certain medications or vaccines? Perhaps some childhood illnesses rest dormant in the body and later emerge in the form of dementia (similar to the way that chicken pox can become shingles)? How about something in drinking water, either contaminants or the chemicals used to treat potable water?
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49 Answers
It’s multifactorial. There is no one cause.
Am I correct in understanding that you are not interested in seeing any evidence that explains the causes of dementia? You just want people to talk about opinions, and only opinions that aren’t based on evidence?
In my mother in law’s case, she had an operation to remove/repair a double brain aneurysm back in 1988. Part of her frontal lobe was damaged (I think). She is still living in 1988. She called me “Gretchen” for years, because that was the name of my husband’s girlfriend when he was 18.
@nikipedia Yes, plausible opinions. There’s a world of “what ifs” out there, and I’m guessing that current research is considering only a handful of them. I’m trying to compile a list of those “what ifs.”
So far, medical evidence hasn’t been conclusive or especially helpful. For a while, there was a belief that aluminum might cause Alzheimer’s. That one was debunked a long time ago; there’s no apparent link between aluminum and exposure to aluminum.
Watching TV. There is a clear correlation between the increase in people with dementia and the increase in the number of people watching television.
How about alcohol and cigarettes during pregnancy?
Today’s elderly people were born during the 1920s and 1930s. Smoking came into vogue after WWI, when “generous” and “thoughtful” cigarette manufacturers supplied servicemen with unlimited freebies and got them addicted. Soldiers brought the habit home with them, and it didn’t take long for women to join in. And, thanks to prohibition, alcohol moved out of male-only saloons and became popular among both men and women.
By maybe the 1960s, people had learned about the dangers of smoking and drinking during a pregnancy. Before then, however, expectant mothers smoked and drank without any concerns. If they didn’t smoke, personally, they were subjected to second-hand smoke wherever they went.
@Rarebear you will notice that I said correlation not causation. Now go and find the data, plot the chart and tell me there is no correlation between TV and dementia.
No I don’t think I’ll waste my time doing that thanks.
No? Because you know I’m correct. There has been a rise in the number people diagnosed with dementia since the 1920’s.
There’s been a rise in people in GENERAL since the 1920s. The human population has grown five fold since then.
And that’s apart from the facts of access to medical care, standardized diagnosis practices, etc.
I’ve never thought about this. But if I had to guess I’d say a combination of a sedentary lifestyle and genetics. My ex father in law died of Alzheimer’s which is dementia on steroids and all he ever did was sit. He sat at work eight hours a day, came home and sat in his recllner until bedtime. On the weekends he was back in his chair. As opposed to my father who mostly sat at work but was a ball of fire on the weekends and died a couple months short of his 89th birthday.
Love this question. Thanks for asking it. I hate it when doctors repeat their mantra, “we don’t know” as if they’re thinking, “when will this person leave my examining room??
I’d be inclined to agree with @Rarebear
I’m sure in certain individuals that are sensitive to particular toxins that pollution, and all manner of chemical toxicity could predispose them, just like cancer and respiratory illnesses. That said though the brain undergoes aging just as all the other bodily organs and a certain amount of lessening brain function is to be expected in individuals as they go through the aging process.
In my family there is no history of Alzhiemers but, those that lived into their 90’s did experience some forgetfulness, occasional confusion, etc.
The aging process is very individualistic and there is no one size fits all theorizing.
I don’t think we can blame chem trails and microwaves for most cases of age related dementia. haha
@Aster You would prefer a doctor to lie and and say she knows something when she doesn’t?
Of course not. I would prefer doctors to mention possible causes based on their opinion and expertise. “We don’t know” is so dismissive and frankly , rude. I would rarely if ever say that to a friend.
Oh, God; take me away before I ever have to see doctors more than once every ten years. And also, God, please get me out of this office chair and onto the yoga mat.
No, it’s not rude. It’s honest.
Every living being can at least accomodate a paying customer and come up with one theory.
I dunno Aster, no disrespect intended, but….doctors are not gods and sometimes they don’t know.
That would be an honest answer, even if it leaves one feeling frustrated. Better to say ” I don’t know” than make up something that may or may not be a possibility or cause undo worry over a hypothetical diagnosis.
But do you not believe that all doctors have some tiny bit of knowledge of what causes what? I’m not seeking a lecture from them; just an idea. When I ask I see a guy shaking his head back and forth and he looks to me like he’s annoyed because I am in there an extra fifteen seconds and he has somebody waiting.
@Aster I think doctors should do their best to not make their patients feel like just another number in their day, of course. I also think they should do their best to answer all of your questions without copping an attitude, being dismissive or projecting annoyance, but…if they don;t have an answer they just don;t have an answer. lol
Ok. In my opinion, voting Republican causes dementia.
@nikipedia Thanks for my laugh of the day.
Actually, it’s overpopulation. There are only so many brain cells to go around, and we are all overextended.
@Coloma “That said though the brain undergoes aging just as all the other bodily organs and a certain amount of lessening brain function is to be expected in individuals as they go through the aging process.”
You make a very valid point, and one that’s always worth noting. Everyone can be forgetful; the healthiest 25-year-old will sometimes misplace his keys, be unable to recall someone’s name, or completely forget about an appointment. As the mind grows older, such mental lapses usually become more frequent. That’s all normal and typical.
Dementia, however, is very different from the normal aging process. There’s a chasm between, “Now, where did I leave my keys THIS time?”, and, “I don’t have any keys, and I’ve never owned keys. Why are you lying to me?”
@nikipedia No, you have it backwards. Dementia causes one to vote Republican. :-)
@SadieMartinPaul That is true as well, and also, certain personality types are more scattered than others, which is not dementia, just the natural way ones brain processes information. I am an ENTP and one of the personality theory descriptions calls us the ” The absent minded professor.” Half brilliant half completely scattered. lol So many factors factor in.
^ And an even bigger gap to taking a power drill to the car door because the house key won’t unlock it.
@Rarebear “No, it’s not rude. It’s honest.”
I’m reminded of all the countless physicians who dole-out prescriptions for antibiotics, just to get patients to go away and believe that they’ve received something for their money. So what if the condition is a virus that won’t be helped, in any way, by antibiotics? So what if the patient becomes a walking petri dish for super-bacteria that resist antibiotics? Heck, it’s so much easier just to write a prescription than to take some time and explain the reality.
Doctors suck. All the other kids got to wear cool polio braces.
My Jr. High history teacher died a couple years back from Alzheimer’s. In his obituary, they mentioned that he had this despite the fact that every day he did the New York Times Crossword. I know some believe that such mental exercise will stave off such a disease. It apparently doesn’t.
My nonmedical opinion is I think clogged arteries, genetics, and probably some chemicals we are exposed to contribute. Maybe throw in how we have laid the wiring in our brains. I wonder if very high IQ people are less likely to get alzheimers? I have no idea the answer, but it would be interesting. Maybe @nikipedia knows? I think of very high IQ people as having more of an intertangled web of memory. Memories stored in multiple files. But, that is my own unscientific assumption, since you are allowing for opinions based on no specific data for this q. Although, I would bet for people with very early onset IQ level doesn’t matter. The genes would be too strong. This again is all hypothesis, and hypothesis are there to be proven wrong.
Like most things I feel we are born with predispositions, lets say on a scale of 0–10, and if you are a 10 you almost cannot escape getting that disease, and if you are a 0 you can abuse your body and still never get whatever particular disease we are talking about. Then there is 1–9 and it all depends on how we live and what we are exposed to.
My father had a sort of dementia that was caused by an overgrowth of some interior part of his brain. Maybe you medical types know what it’s called.
@snowberry I really don’t know. If you had a diagnosis I could look it up for you.
@snowberry And I’m sorry about your father. My mother is developing Alzheimer’s and I know how terrible that is for a family.
@Rarebear It was 8 years ago and I don’t remember. He died doing what he liked and never had a chance to linger. He was out walking and was hit by a truck. He never knew what hit him.
@snowberry Well, as they say, he died with his boots on
@Rarebear I’m so sorry to hear about your mother. There are seven stages of Alzheimer’s (roughly defined, and with considerable overlap), and my own Mom’s at about 6–½. It’s a cruel disease that robs its victims’ lives of quality and dignity.
@Rarebear What irritates me is that he left so quickly and he hasn’t contacted me since!
@JLeslie Maybe @nikipedia knows?
How sad is it when an expert in the field will only answer the question if she likes the person who is asking? And people wonder why we dislike many of our doctors.~
I would be happy to comment on a different thread. The author specifically asked that we not talk about science or evidence here.
@nikipedia Maybe the OP wanted to allow for guesses but also is interested in the science. You are a researcher, which is different than her medical doctors who are prescribing a standard of care. She may not realize the information you have. On fluther doctors and scientists sometimes get pretty pissed off when jellies give unscientific opinions. I get attacked all the time and my answers usually do have science behind it, or is a standard medical practice. I am right a lot, but I am not a scientist nor a medical doctor and I state when I have no data to back me up or when I am guessing, to warn the OP and followers my thoughts would need further investigation or to ask their doctor, just like I did in my first answer here. Not that I think I am right about the IQ thing that is a total shot in the dark. But, the only way to allow for unscientific or unproven answers, without the Q going down into a big hole of arguments, is probably to word the question as the OP did. If something has actually been disproven that is something I would want to know. That is different than a hypothesis not studied yet.
But, I can’t speak for the OP, maybe she really has no interest in any science. Thing is I think some of the answers do have some science, at least I think some of mine do. I think they have been investigating an artery clog connection and cholesterol levels with dementia, but I have not read up on that, I just have heard some buzz about some correlations I guess.
I just wanted to add that Nikipedia knows more about the science than any of us. She has basically dedicated her life to it.
@johnpowell Aaand, she said she didn’t want to post here. Sooo… LOL
Good point, though.
@johnpowell Exactly. That is why I was interested in what she had to say.
” I’m asking for opinions, not for science.”
^ That’s why she’s not playing. And I don’t blame her. It’s kind of silly to ask for a nonscientific opinion on something that actually has a scientific answer.
Facts don’t change according to a person’s opinion.
Poor education and lack of brain work are factors, but of course not the only ones. Education and brain work can slow down the progress of Alzheimer, for example.
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