Dr Oz: Learning More About Alzheimer’s Disease
Dr Oz recently revealed the new Alzheimer’s test, and after such a positive response, he wanted to bring viewers even more information about the disease that forever changes people’s lives. After Maria Shriver’s father passed away from Alzheimer’s, she became an advocate for those affected by the disease. She joined Dr Oz to talk about her work with Alzheimer’s.
Maria remembered her dad being the smartest person she ever met. She began noticing little things here and there with her father, but like most people, she contributed it to simply getting older. Finally she and her brothers got together and sort-of put the pieces together, but she regrets that it took so long for them to finally get him a diagnosis. When they took him to a doctor and her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but they continued to deny it.
Dr Oz sat down with Maria Shriver to talk about Alzheimer’s and the test that could help detect symptoms early and even keep you healthy. (lbjlibrarynow / Flickr)
Dr Oz: Maria Shriver & Alzheimer’s Disease
She held on to the diagnosis trying to protect him, while he still worked as Chairman for the Special Olympics. But once he began repeating himself in a speech, they felt it was right for him to put out a letter to his friends and colleagues so that people would know what was really going on, as opposed to something else.
Maria then became passionate about learning more about the disease. She first wrote a children’s book because she considers herself a child of Alzheimer’s and wanted her children to understand what was going on. Her book is titled “What’s Happening to Grandpa.” She also did a women’s conference while she was First Lady of California, and programmed sessions on care-giving.
Maria then went to the Alzheimer’s Association and suggested a report on Alzheimer’s and a better way to communicate it. It was found that 2/3 of the brains that had Alzheimer’s were women, which was news to everybody. Maria revealed that every 66 seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. A woman in her early 60’s is twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s as she is to get breast cancer. It’s also in your brain for 20 years before you’re diagnosed, which is why women in their 40’s and 50’s should be educating themselves, especially about delaying symptoms.
Dr Oz: Hormones & Alzheimer’s
Biologically, there are many roads that lead to Alzheimer’s, but that also means many ways in which Alzheimer’s can be stopped or slowed down. One of those ideas is estrogen flux. Dr Oz explained that when we are born, we have a lot of protective hormones around our brain. By the time you hit puberty, hormone begin surging. When women get pregnant, hormones will “skyrocket and then come back down” before menopause, when there’s a dramatic decrease in hormones.
The idea is that the abruptness behind hormonal changes contribute to Alzheimer’s.
Dr Oz: SAGE Test For Alzheimer’s
Dr Oz had previously talked about the SAGE test but wanted to share even more of it, to help viewers become more educated about the test and the disease. Dr Richard Isaacson explained that the test takes just 15 minutes and can be downloaded at home for free. You fill it out and take it every year, bringing it to your doctor to stay ahead of the disease.
Max Lugavere then got into the SAGE test that was developed by Dr Douglas Scharre at Ohio State University. Go ahead and get a piece of paper out and write down a bunch of numbers through five and letters through E. The numbers and letters should then be connected in ascending, alternating order (think 1, A, 2 B, and so on). It’s called the trail-making test. This test measures recognition, processing speed, movement, and more.
Dr Oz: Test Your Brain Health
Next was a text that evaluates the language center of the brain. You look at an image and then write down what you think you’re seeing. Dr Oz looked at two pictures and wrote down “wreath” and “volcano.” Dr Isaacson explained that the seemingly simple test checks multiple parts of the brain at the same time.
Lastly, was a test that involves math. Max asked Dr Oz to consider a hypothetical situation in which he was spending $1.95 on groceries and used a $5 bill to pay for them. He asked Dr Oz to calculate how much change he would receive. The test looks at your problem solving and calculation skills. I pretty quickly got $3.05, which was the correct answer. It’s important to remember that the test is a way to detect changes, which is why it should be consistently shared with your doctor.
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