
Dementia through the lens of epidemiology - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/blog/why-dementia-is-a-population_level-problem
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reasonattlm
This is an example of the strange idea that there is "normal aging" that is
fine because it is normal and is somehow completely different from whatever
parts of aging that we call age-related disease and have decided are not
"normal aging". Semantics, all of it.

All of this is "normal aging". Dementia is "normal aging." Normal aging is
terrible and creates a varying distribution of disease states in people. Those
disease states are the end of a random walk of primary aging (i.e. unavoidable
molecular damage caused by the normal operation of metabolism) and secondary
aging (i.e. being fat, smoking, etc, things that add extra molecular damage or
extra consequences that are similar to the consequences of the unavoidable
molecular damage), and everyone ends up somewhere different in that state
space. All completely normal.

The only way to prevent and cure the parts of normal aging that we have
defined to be age-related disease is to fix the causes of aging, because age-
related diseases ARE aging. It is all the consequence of exactly the same
processes at root. The three current views of what those causes are:

SENS: [http://www.sens.org/research/introduction-to-sens-
research](http://www.sens.org/research/introduction-to-sens-research)

Hallmarks of Aging:
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.039](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.039)

Seven Pillars:
[http://buckinstitute.org/CellCommentary](http://buckinstitute.org/CellCommentary)

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taxicabjesus
One of my passengers pointed out that old people have a tendency to drink a
lot of alcohol. Future passengers confirmed this again and again... One woman
told of how old people get away from the care facility (for lunch with family,
etc) she worked at and came back smashed.

Edit: many people have a problematic relationship with alcohol. I know some
people who aren't at all truthful with their doctors about their alcohol use.
Any effort to figure out dementia needs to figure out how alcohol fits into
the patients' conditions.

~~~
taneq
At that point, why not? Your health is failing and you've only got a few years
left at most, and probably much less time until you're put on some medication
that precludes alcohol. Might as well enjoy yourself while you can.

~~~
openfuture
I hate how alcohol is somehow synonymous with enjoyment. If your health is
failing and you want to enjoy your last years then how about not _literally
poisoning yourself_ and instead spending some time with family or something.

~~~
taneq
Different people experience alcohol differently. Maybe a couple of drinks just
makes you feel cruddy but it makes some people feel great, enough so that it's
worth taking a small hit to their health.

