News: Link to Alzheimer's/living near busy road

[SnowWhite]

Saw this on TV where a study in Canada has shown that people living near main roads are more likely to get Alzheimer's.

All I can say is that in my Mums care home there are 20 residents and they all have dementia or Alzheimer's and they all lived locally in the East Anglian countryside. We don't even have motorways here!

My mum has lived in the same house since the 1950s and must be 30 miles away from any road or street which could be described as having "heavy traffic."

 

[Rageddy Anne]

We live on an A road in the country, and apart from my husband, I don't think anyone nearby has Alzheimer's. We have a belt of trees to protect us from fumes and noise.

Among our friends the ones with Alzheimer's don't seem to have anything in common as far as lifestyle goes. Some live or lived in Canada, far away from roads.

 

[Spamar]

I live in the same part of the country as you, snowwhite, and it was my first thought as well!

 

[Digilux108]

From the points that you are all making, I believe even more that dementia can strike indiscriminately, and that it can affect anyone, anywhere.

I know that what was reported in the news is not particularly helpful, but we shouldn’t allow media headlines to divert our attention away from the fact that the air we breath still contains pollutants that may be harmful to us. Perhaps the study should have focused on the chemical constituents of exhaust fumes and how they may affect us rather than proximity to buy roads etc. I think this may have been more useful.

The reason why I say this is that in the winter issue of Careandcure, the Alzheimer’s society research magazine, there was a very brief piece about how researchers identified microscopic particles from polluted air in brain tissue from people who died with AD.

Although it is unclear whether this has any effect on brain health, it did get me thinking about Diesel fumes in particular. Diesel exhaust is rich in volatile compounds and free radicals. Now free radicals can disrupt and damage cell structures. They can damage proteins and enzymes (our brain cells produce proteins and enzymes) and if the damage is allowed to accumulate, then cells malfunction and die. Neurodegenerative disease is of course associated with cell malfunction and cell death. I recently read about a study at Stamford University in the USA, which identified free radical damage as a contributory factor to Huntingdon's disease (another form of neurodegenerative disease).

Something to think about!

 

[Kevinl]

Surely, then in London (or indeed any big city) taxi and bus drivers must be getting AZ all the time, people who fix the roads and even people who work in shops 8 hours a day on a main road should be over represented in the figures.
Bearing in mind that the research was done in Canada where diesel car ownership is much less than in the UK or Europe then the diesel issue may not be that much of a factor as the levels of diesel pollutants will probably be much lower than in the UK.
It's an interesting statistical anomaly and worth looking into but my wife is another one who doesn't and never has lived on a main road nor worked on a main road so it's unlikely to be of any use to her.
K

 

[nmintueo]

Living close to major roads linked to small increase in dementia risk, study suggests
Published 5 January 2017
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2718

 

[Digilux108]

Living close to major roads linked to small increase in dementia risk, study suggests
Published 5 January 2017
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2718

Interestingly, we are advised to avoid smoking, among other things, in order to reduce the chance of developing dementia. Cigarette smoke for example, is yet another collection of complex and toxic particulates which contain free radicals and free radical agents. Personally, I don't smoke, but I guess some people would equally say that not all smokers develop dementia.

Our bodies do produce natural antidotes to free radicals of course, but whatever triggers neurodegeneratitve disease in the first instance obviously has the ability to incapacitate the body's elaborate defence mechanisms. The point is that there seem to be a number of external factors that may be potentially harmful and place us at greater risk, so perhaps we should not be too quick in being dismissive.

 

[Kevinl]

Here's some more Canadian research that came out today;

"Couch potatoes 'at highest risk of dementia': Skipping exercise is as dangerous as carrying the Alzheimer's gene".

That seem so much at odds with my wife who was always physically active and many of the other resident's in the home who's relatives describe them as "someone who was always on the go".
My wife along with a few others in the home still walks the corridors most of her waking hours, the staff and other visitors tell me she rarely sits down for more than a minute unless she goes to sleep and there's plenty more in there like her.
For reference we don't and never have lived on a main road either.
K

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...cise-dangerous-carrying-Alzheimer-s-gene.html

 

[Digilux108]

Here's some more Canadian research that came out today;

"Couch potatoes 'at highest risk of dementia': Skipping exercise is as dangerous as carrying the Alzheimer's gene".

That seem so much at odds with my wife who was always physically active and many of the other resident's in the home who's relatives describe them as "someone who was always on the go".
My wife along with a few others in the home still walks the corridors most of her waking hours, the staff and other visitors tell me she rarely sits down for more than a minute unless she goes to sleep and there's plenty more in there like her.
For reference we don't and never have lived on a main road either.
K

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...cise-dangerous-carrying-Alzheimer-s-gene.html

I think that this applies to many people. My mother was always healthy and active. In 1992 she was knocked down by a car and suffered a minor head injury, among other things. Over the years since then, her health has suffered in one way or another.

However, returning to the matter of health and lifestyle, even the WHO (World Health Organisation) and ADI (Alzheimer's Disease International) suggest that there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that several health and lifestyle factors are associated with dementia incidence.

For example, they state that cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol are each associated with an increased risk of developing dementia. In 2008 my mother had a problem with one of her eyes. After numerous visits to the GP and eye clinic, we discovered that she had experienced a vascular occlusion. However, because it had healed, it wasn't taken any further. My mother did occasionally have hypertension and ended up with vascular dementia in 2014. I am not sure why she had these problems; she didn't smoke, drink or have an unhealthy diet, and wasn't a sedentary person, yet the CT scan in March 2015 revealed evidence of a lacunar infarct, which is apparently the most common type of stroke. Perhaps the vascular occlusion was a clue and should have been investigated for other potential health risks. Sadly, however, the medical profession sometimes doesn't always take a preventative approach.