Dementia: 19-year-old is probably the youngest patient in the world

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At the age of 17 he forgets the first things. Suddenly I don’t know where his things are anymore. His concentration decreases, the tasks at school can hardly be mastered. At 18 he can no longer remember what he did the day before or whether he had already eaten. He has to drop out of school.

At the age of 19, the doctors at the Beijing hospital made the devastating diagnosis: presumed dementia. About the case of the boy, whose name is not known, the doctors report in ” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease “. He would be the youngest person with dementia in the world. Apart from the special cases of dementia in children.

Dementia comprises more than 50 diseases, the most common form being Alzheimer’s. According to the ” South China Morning Post “ classic Alzheimer’s symptoms. Tests and scans showed a so-called hippocampal atrophy, i.e. a regression of the brain area responsible for memory and tau proteins in the brain water, the cerebrospinal fluid. Like most forms of dementia, Alzheimer’s is still incurable.

Genetic mutations are ruled out in the youngest dementia patient

The 19-year-old’s case is all the more unusual because the doctors have ruled out other diseases – as well as typical gene mutations.

In very rare cases (about one percent) there are gene mutations that trigger Alzheimer’s in any case – and are usually found to be the cause, even in younger patients. Specifically, the APP (chromosome 21), presenilin-1 (chromosome 14) and presenilin-2 (chromosome 1), explains the German Alzheimer research on your side.

So far, the youngest person with Alzheimer’s was 21 years old. She had a corresponding gene mutation.

“This is the youngest case ever reported that meets the diagnostic criteria for a probable [Alzheimer-Krankheit] met without genetic mutations,” write the researchers from Beijing. Further examinations are now pending, and the patient must also be observed over the long term. But they hope the case will draw attention to Alzheimer’s in young people. More research is needed here.

Dementia: signs and symptoms

Dementia affects everyone differently, depending on the underlying cause, the health status, and the cognitive capacity of the person before the disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the signs and symptoms can be divided into three stages.

early stage

The early stages of dementia are often overlooked because it begins insidiously. Common symptoms can be:

• forgetfulness
• loss of sense of time
• getting lost in familiar places

middle stage

As dementia progresses to the intermediate stage, signs and symptoms become more apparent and may include:

• Forgetting recent events and people’s names
• confusion in the apartment
• increasing difficulties in communication
• need help with personal care
• Behavior changes, including wandering and repeated questioning

late stage

The late stage of dementia is characterized by almost complete dependence and inactivity. The memory problems are severe and the physical signs and symptoms become more apparent and may include:

• ignorance of time and place
• Difficulty recognizing relatives and friends
• increasing need for support in self-care
• difficulty walking
• Behavioral changes that may escalate and include aggression

Common forms of dementia

There are more than 50 different forms of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common, accounting for 60 to 70 percent of global cases. Other well-known forms are vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia.

Dementia can also occur after a stroke or with certain infections, such as HIV, harmful alcohol use, repeated physical injuries to the brain (called chronic traumatic encephalopathy), or poor nutrition.

The boundaries between the different forms of dementia are fluid. Mixed forms often occur.

Dementia Risk Factors and What You Can Do

Age is considered the greatest risk factor. Age-related dementia cases account for around 99 percent. Accordingly, this cannot be influenced. However, there are some things you can do to reduce the risk. The WHO recommends:

• Sport and exercise (against obesity),
• do not smoke,
• little alcohol,
• a healthy diet,
• Check blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels

Other risk factors include depression, social isolation, low educational attainment, cognitive inactivity, and air pollution.

Dementia: No cure but treatment

There is currently no cure for the most well-known forms of dementia. Although there are drugs, they have so far shown only limited effectiveness and are primarily approved for Alzheimer’s disease. However, there is a lot of research and several treatment methods are currently in clinical trials.

Until then, people with dementia and their carers and families need to be supported and improved. The main goals of dementia care are:

• early diagnosis to enable optimal treatment
• Optimizing physical health, cognition, activity and well-being
• Recognition and treatment of physical comorbidities
• Understanding and managing behavior change
• Provision of information and long-term support for carers

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