Dementia & Alzheimer’s disease

Dementia describes a group of symptoms associated with a decline in memory, reasoning or other thinking skills. Many different types of dementia exist, and many conditions cause it. Mixed dementia is a condition in which brain changes of more than one type of dementia occur simultaneously. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for 60-80% of dementia cases. Dementia is not a normal part of aging. It is caused by damage to brain cells that affects their ability to communicate, which can affect thinking, behavior and feelings.

Epidemiology

More than 25 million people in the world today are affected by dementia, most suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The number of people living with dementia in the European Union (EU27) is estimated to be 7,853,705 and in European countries represented by AE members, 9,780,678. Women continue to be disproportionately affected by dementia with 6,650,228 women and 3,130,449 men living with dementia in Europe. The numbers of people with dementia in Europe will almost double by 2050 increasing to 14,298,671 in the European Union and 18,846,286 in the wider European region. In both developed and developing nations, Alzheimer's disease has had tremendous impact on the affected individuals, caregivers, and society. .

Pathophysiology of Dementia & Alzheimer’s disease

Dementia is a term used to describe a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with your daily life. It isn't a specific disease, but several diseases can cause dementia. Though dementia generally involves memory loss, memory loss has different causes. Having memory loss alone doesn't mean you have dementia, although it's often one of the early signs of the condition. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of a progressive dementia in older adults, but there are a number of other causes of dementia. Depending on the cause, some dementia symptoms might be reversible.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurologic disorder that causes the brain to shrink (atrophy) and brain cells to die. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia — a continuous decline in thinking, behavioral and social skills that affects a person's ability to function independently. Medications may temporarily improve or slow progression of symptoms. These treatments can sometimes help people with Alzheimer's disease maximize function and maintain independence for a time.

Q10

A-lipoic acid

PQQ

Q10

Patients with dementia suffered from coenzyme Q10 deficiency, and the degree of deficiency was related to the level of amyloid-β and antioxidant capacity. Since adequate level of coenzyme Q10 may delay the progression of dementia, monitoring coenzyme Q10 status in patients with dementia is necessary.
Front. Aging Neurosci., 25 July 2022 Sec. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2022.910289CoQ10 supplementation can improve learning and memory deficits induced by diabetes in older subjects. In addition, CoQ10 at higher doses can improve cognitive performance in older healthy subjects.
Neuropsychobiology 2018/2019;77:92–100

A-lipoic acid

In this report, we have extended the analysis to 43 patients over an observation period of up to 48 months. In patients with mild dementia (ADAScog < 15), the disease progressed extremely slowly (ADAScog: +1.2 points/year, MMSE: -0.6 points/year), in patients with moderate dementia at approximately twice the rate. However, the progression appears dramatically lower than data reported for untreated patients or patients on choline-esterase inhibitors in the second year of long-term studies. Despite the fact that this study was not double-blinded, placebo-controlled and randomized, our data suggest that treatment with alpha-lipoic acid might be a successful 'neuroprotective' therapy option for AD.
J Neural Transm Suppl. 2007;(72):189-93. doi: 10.1007/978-3-211-73574-9_24.Studies performed in animal models of memory loss associated with aging and Alzheimer’s Disease have shown that α-Lipoic Acid improves memory in a variety of behavioral paradigms. Furthermore, molecular mechanisms underlying α-Lipoic Acid effects have also been investigated. Accordingly, α-Lipoic Acid shows antioxidant, antiapoptotic, anti-inflammatory, glioprotective, metal chelating properties in both in vivo and in vitro studies. In addition, it has been shown that α-Lipoic Acid reverses age-associated loss of neurotransmitters and their receptors.
Life Sciences Volume 284, 1 November 2021, 119899α-Lipoic Acid, a low-molecular-weight dithiol with a chiral centre, is a dietary supplement thought to have potential therapeutic effects for the prevention or treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, treatment with α-Lipoic Acid is able to regulate inflammatory cell infiltration into the central nervous system and to down-regulate VCAM-1 and human monocyte adhesion to epithelial cells. In neurodegenerative disease models, treatment with α-Lipoic Acid is able to improve the function of the dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmitters. Scientific evidence shows that α-Lipoic Acid possesses the ability to improve memory capacity in a number of experimental neurodegenerative disease models and in age-related cognitive decline in rodents. Studies have shown that this substance is able to reduce memory loss
Progress in nutrition Vol. 22 No. 1 (2020) DOI https://doi.org/10.23751/pn.v22i1.9341