Why do some people "disrespect the elderly"?

One day, an old man stole a strange woman next to him in the elevator. Later, his daughter knew about it, and her daughter was very embarrassed. She thought, "Why doesn't dad respect the old?" Later, when she went home for dinner, she found that her father had cooked a dish, and she ran back to the kitchen to cook the same dish. Found something wrong, sent to the hospital for examination, suffering from Alzheimer's Harmo disease, also known as Alzheimer's Harmo disease.

I heard this story in a doctor's lecture last Thursday. Before that, I knew very little about this disease. I once thought it was as simple as amnesia, but after listening to the lecture, I found that the disease was not that simple. On the contrary, it was a terrible disease.

First of all, this disease is not a normal manifestation of aging. It is a problem of the nervous system, which leads to the death of neurons in the brain and brain lesions, and finally leads to death. The onset may be five years.

According to the data released by the American Alzheimer's Association, on average, 1 out of every 10 elderly people over the age of 65 suffers from Alzheimer's disease, with an incidence rate of 10%, and the overall prevalence rate of men and women is 1:3, which means that the risk of women is much higher than that of men. At present, there is no effective cure in medicine. For example, in the United States with advanced medical technology, the number of people who died of this disease has been rising from 2000 to 20 14.

The disease has three stages:

The first stage is amnesia, because some toxic protein accumulates in the hippocampus of our brain, which is responsible for memory, destroying its function, so patients often forget things.

The second stage is the chaotic period, which lasts the longest. At this time, the lesion has spread to all parts of the brain, and the patient begins to be anxious, delusional and self-controlled. For example, the behavior of the disrespectful old man in the above article is actually that his illness has affected the cerebral cortex responsible for the rational level and acted according to physiological instinct. Later, I heard from the teacher that the old man had some abnormal behaviors, such as suddenly hitting people while talking and using toothpaste as a phone. In the later stage of this stage, patients will gradually lose their ability to take care of themselves and forget who the people around them are.

The last stage is dementia. The brain function has entered a general decline, the body can't control swallowing food, and it can't feel happiness emotionally.

American artist William Termohlen was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease on 1995. He continued to paint a self-portrait for five years until he completely forgot how to paint it. The constant distortion of his self-portrait means that the world in his eyes is also distorted, and he is not able to perceive the outside world like us normal people. These paintings vividly depict the gradual erosion of his mind by Alzheimer's disease. (See Figure 2)

So, since the disease is irreversible, are there any preventive measures? I looked through some materials and summarized the following three points.

1, lonely

A three-year study published on 20 13 found that the proportion of middle-aged and elderly people who have been alone for a long time is nearly twice that of ordinary people. Although the mechanism behind it is still unclear, this result seems to indicate that having good family or social relations helps the brain to keep healthy.

2, sleep disorders

20 13 Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine found that lack of sleep can make amyloid toxic protein enter the brain more easily. Toxic protein can combine with nerve cells in the brain and block the connection between nerve cells, thus affecting the function of the human brain and eventually leading to dementia. Meanwhile, the more sleep, the better. People who sleep for more than 9 hours every night have reduced brain volume and various brain dysfunction, and the proportion of Alzheimer's disease is twice that of the general population. So, sleep well and get up normally.

Step 3 have a sense of humor

A study of 20 15 in University of London found that the change of sense of humor may be the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, such as losing interest in once funny things and having trouble understanding humor. Humor is a particularly sensitive test factor because it actually uses many different brain blocks, such as problem solving, emotional response and social consciousness. So, tell more jokes to your parents.

Finally, tell a story. In 1980s, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and American President Ronald Reagan were the two most influential figures in western politics, and they were also friends in private.

1994, when Reagan was 83 years old, doctors diagnosed him with Alzheimer's disease. Reagan knew that he was dying, so he wrote to Mrs. Thatcher, hoping that one day she could attend her funeral. When Mrs Thatcher saw this letter, she choked back her sadness and agreed to Reagan's request. Six years later, in 2000, Margaret Thatcher also suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She was worried that she could not attend Reagan's funeral, so she asked someone to help record the eulogy at Reagan's funeral.

On June 5, 2004, Reagan died, and Margaret Thatcher was unable to attend the funeral. The eulogy recorded four years ago really came in handy.

Worse than the top leaders in Britain and America, they all fell in front of this disease in the end, not to mention ordinary people.

Finally, tell me a tearful detail I heard that night: the old man who started the story finally forgot who everyone around him was, but he still remembered his daughter's childhood appearance and interesting things.

What can't be erased is love for children.