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Possible cause of Alzheimer's?

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Saurabh

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Hi all,

My father has Alzheimer's disease unfortunately, and I am exploring possible root causes.

My hypothesis is that one of the key causes of Alzheimer's disease is the loss of active interest in life. There are other genetic and lifestyle related causes as well, but I think that a mental disease must have a relation to the way an individual's mind functions.

In this context, could any of you share any examples/opinions with me that either supports or refutes my hypothesis?

Current medical research on this disease is all focused on finding out ways to fix the mental 'hardware'. However, I believe that the real treatment lies in fixing the individual's thinking (basically his philosophy, and hence his psychology). This would re-ignite his interest in life and would get his brain working again.

I also think that it will be Ayn Rand's philosophy that will be the cure - as it teaches man to use his mind in order to survive, not his emotions (which I believe has been the case with my father).

Many thanks for any inputs!

Saurabh

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Current medical research on this disease is all focused on finding out ways to fix the mental 'hardware'. However, I believe that the real treatment lies in fixing the individual's thinking (basically his philosophy, and hence his psychology). This would re-ignite his interest in life and would get his brain working again.
Is there isn't any controversy among doctors/experts as to whether the condition is psychological? if not, what is the basis for your hypothesis?

While you pursue your investigations, as long as you do not have specific evidence to the contrary, I'd recommend that all your actions ought to be based on widely accepted expert opinion. otherwise, it would be like a person with a cancer trying to wish it away by getting a new zest for life. (I suppose new-agers might think this is possible for cancer too, but the evidence is nil.)

Edited by softwareNerd
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Hi all,

My father has Alzheimer's disease unfortunately, and I am exploring possible root causes.

My hypothesis is that one of the key causes of Alzheimer's disease is the loss of active interest in life. There are other genetic and lifestyle related causes as well, but I think that a mental disease must have a relation to the way an individual's mind functions.

In this context, could any of you share any examples/opinions with me that either supports or refutes my hypothesis?

Current medical research on this disease is all focused on finding out ways to fix the mental 'hardware'. However, I believe that the real treatment lies in fixing the individual's thinking (basically his philosophy, and hence his psychology). This would re-ignite his interest in life and would get his brain working again.

I also think that it will be Ayn Rand's philosophy that will be the cure - as it teaches man to use his mind in order to survive, not his emotions (which I believe has been the case with my father).

Many thanks for any inputs!

Saurabh

I have known people with Alzheimer's. The first person I met with this disease was an old man (not elderly by any means) who lived in the condominium next door. He was an active man when he got diagnosed, and as his mental capacity degenerated, unfortunately, he was still active--he would get lost walking to the dumpster and would try to drive all the time. In fact, what is sad about Alzheimer's, from what I've experienced, is it affects otherwise healthy and active human beings who are arriving in their later years. If your hypothesis (what are your observations exactly?) is correct, after seeing many active older people in South Florida, our younger generation (America) is totally screwed, as some of those older folks would put them to shame.

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There is no mind-body dichotomy. To try to pinpoint this as only a psychological problem sourced in something as abstract as one's interest in life is to put the cart before the horse. A person's interest in life, at any given moment, is the result of the physical working of his brain, the balance of hormones and other chemicals, and the past history of one's choices and experiences, each of which affect the other. They are all interrelated.

One likely factor is the formation and cross-linking of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which are involved in the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain, which are of key interest to Alzheimer's researchers. This accumulation of AGEs takes a long time to occur, and so points to a chronic cause. So what causes the production of AGEs in the first place? AGEs are the result of attaching a sugar molecule (from the blood) to a protein in a haphazard way (glycation), which then bonds in random ways to other such molecules, building complex and unmanageable AGEs. Increased production of AGEs occurs with increased blood sugar. Fructose in particular is ten times more likely to cause glycation to occur as glucose.

So you have only to look at what can spike the blood sugar, repeatedly, over long periods of time, and what can contribute to increased fructose in the bloodstream.

(more info and primary research citations in Good Calories, Bad Calories, ch. 12-13)

Edited by brian0918
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I find it hard to believe that one of the symptoms of depression could lead to mental degeneration of that kind. I think this is os because I haven't head of people under 40 getting alzheimer's (it may have happened though). Its correlation with age and/or time can't be ignored.

I think it is much more likely to be cause an excessive intake of sugars, but that is just my paleo-diet prejudice to blame most medical problems on that.

I once "volunteered" at an alzheimer's clinic (Catholic School). It is a terrible disease mostly because Alzheimer's patients are completely incapable of taking care of themselves, and nurses never seemed willing/able (don't know) to be able to take care of them in that fundemental way. They always had really bad skin problems and were very frail.

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I think it is much more likely to be cause an excessive intake of sugars, but that is just my paleo-diet prejudice to blame most medical problems on that.

I think it's a bit premature to say that excessive intake of sugars is the cause, although it is likely a big factor. Your paleo-bias is not to blame though - rather, the evidence points to this as a factor.

Edited by brian0918
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I guess high blood sugar could have been a factor - he had it in the past. Now the sugar is in control though.

Also, I also agree that there is an interplay of various factors at work - such as lifestyle, genetics, etc.

However, my hypothesis has originated purely from observing my father's situation over time. I have no other observation to support my hypothesis - which is why I am seeking other examples. Unfortunately, Google has not been very helpful.

So, what I would benefit from is your reaction/opinion/examples on this theory of mine below:

A person X is better than most people around him (in terms of intellect, diligence, honesty).

However, he does not have the right philosophy - he functions mostly by faith rather than by reason (mainly in personal and social life), is led by emotions, and places others before self.

His sense of life and conscious way of leading life is different than those around him, and so others often disapprove of him.

However, he cannot handle disapproval by others. Since he is motivated by external approval, he is at a loss in such a situation.

Over time, he looses motivation to do anything because nothing seems to work. He stops using his mind. As a result, his nerve cells start dying gradually. Also, since he does not enjoy any present moment, his new memory formation is weak. Thus, he increase his risk of catching Alzheimer's. Now, if other factors such as genes and lifestyle also work in the same direction, then he catches the disease.

In fact, once my father told me that he found it very enjoyable to play any sport because he knew how to play and win. But, he found (a lot of) social interactions to be painful as he did not understand how people thought and acted.

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Too many people on this forum underestimate science, and the level scientists are doing research on in most fields. You're not going to find an answer to your question independently of the people on the cutting edge of medical research. If you're serious about finding answers, ignoring them and going with "common sense" is not the way to go.

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Too many people on this forum underestimate science, and the level scientists are doing research on in most fields. You're not going to find an answer to your question independently of the people on the cutting edge of medical research. If you're serious about finding answers, ignoring them and going with "common sense" is not the way to go.

Well Jake, I would not ignore science and scientists for sure. However, I would also not ignore my own common sense.

However, I got my answer that my hypothesis does not seem plausible to you guys... Thanks for all the comments!

Edited by Saurabh
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  • 4 weeks later...

In his book "Final Exit" Derek Humphrey told the story of a woman in her 60s who ended her life shortly after being diagnosed with Altzheimer's even though she was only in the early stages of the disease. She spent the last weeks of her life playing tennis, then committed suicide with barbiturates before her Altzheimer's could progress. She loved life too much to go down that road.

Edited by BRG253
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