5 Hidden Causes Of Alzheimer's Most People Don't Know!

By Editorial Staff in Health and Fitness On 24th April 2016
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#1 Sleep Deprivation

Amyloid, a memory-robbing protein, builds up in your brain when you get too little sleep, according to a recent study. And that type of protein is thought to attack the brain's long-term memory and trigger Alzheimer's.

#2 Anti-anxiety Medication

A class of drugs known as benzodiazepines are frequently used to treat disorders such as anxiety and insomnia. They include popular drugs lorazepam (Ativan), alprazolam (Xanax) and clonazepam (Klonopin). More and more health risks and side effects of taking these drugs continue to be revealed. A study published in the British Medical Journal followed 1,796 Canadians with Alzheimer's disease and 7,184 healthy controls for a period of six years. They found that taking these drugs for more than three months was associated with up to a 51% increase in Alzheimer's disease.

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#3 Head Trauma

It's estimated that 300,000 Americans suffer a sports-related concussion each year. There are many complications that can come from a head injury, and increased risk of Alzheimer's is now known as one of them. While some make full recoveries, others may experience problems related to the inflammation that helps heal damaged brain tissue. If the inflammation becomes chronic, the cells in the brain are less likely to clear amyloid beta from the brain. The build up of this protein in the brain is a known cause of Alzheimer's disease.

#4 Loneliness

A study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry found links between loneliness and the development of dementia. In the three-year study, researchers found that adults feeling lonely had 1.63 times the chance of developing dementia. The exact cause and effect of the link is still being studied, but researchers suggest staying connected to other.

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#5 Type 3 Diabetes

Neuroscientist Suzanne de la Monte, MD, of Brown University, believes that Alzheimer's disease is a metabolic disease that affects the brain. She refers to Alzheimer's as "Type 3 Diabetes." Her research has led her to believe the brain cells develop insulin resistance, just like other cells in the body. "Any organ can be affected by insulin resistance," she has said. "If you get it in the brain, we call it Alzheimer's."