Age Ex

  Pathology: As mentioned in the previous post, dementia is not all about Alzheimer’s disease and in fact there are different types of dementia. Vascular dementia, or Cerebrovascular dementia to be precise, is the second most cause of dementia in elderly. The cerebrum is a major part of the brain where it receives and interprets information. Therefore, this means that the vessels that supply cerebrum are extremely crucial. Vascular dementia happens when there is a condition damaging those vessels and causing disturbances in getting oxygenated blood with nutrients to the area. In other words, this type of dementia is caused by brain ischemia (further caused by diseases such as atherosclerosis or thrombosis). So compared to Alzheimer’s disease, it’s the lack of blood supply that results in brain cell death while in Alzheimer’s, brain nerve cells are primarily damaged due to other factors such as amyloid plaque build ups. Since the problem can be caused anywhere in the vessels, ...

Pathology  Dementia is a growing disease as the world population, especially older adults, continues to increase. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) dementia is “an umbrella term for several diseases that are mostly progressive, affecting memory, other cognitive abilities and behaviour, and that interfere significantly with a person’s ability to maintain the activities of daily living.” Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia which accounts for 60% to 70% of all cases according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017). It is predicted that the population of patients with dementia will increase to 75 million people by 2031, and considering the high percentage, more people will suffer from AD (WHO, 2017). AD is a neurodegenerative disease that is irreversible and mostly happens in individuals aged 65 and above. Degradation of neurons is a combination of accumulation of Amyloid beta (Aβ) proteins and microtubule protein Tau. The degeneration of...

  What Is Aerobic Exercise? At some point you have probably heard someone saying something about doing “cardio”.  Well, aerobic exercise is any structured physical activity that results in an increased heart rate and breathing rate. So running, swimming, jogging, and so on are all defined as aerobic exercise. Such activities require energy and for that to happen our body requires oxygen and delivery of it to specific tissues. Doing aerobic exercise over time will result in an increased aerobic capacity which means the body has a better ability in bringing oxygen in via the lungs, better delivery to tissues as result of improved cardiovascular function, and better uptake and utilization at tissular level (via mitochondria). What Is Resistance Exercise? Resistance exercise is a different type of exercise in which the goal is to build muscle and increase muscular force as muscles are very plastic and adaptable. Resistance because you put force (such as a dumbbell or even ...

  What is LDL and HDL cholesterol? As you may know LDL is the villain and HDL is the hero when it comes to cholesterol, but why is that the case and what is the reason that we would want to have more of the latter? Low density lipase (LDL) is made up mostly of cholesterol and other molecules , such as phospholipids and triglyceride and proteins. The low density of these particles makes them float in the blood and thus in the vasculature. LDL particles donate cholesterol to non-hepatic tissues, so tissues other than the liver. Now, as with everything else in the body, cholesterol is crucial for the body; however, too much of it causes problems. Problems such as atherosclerosis and plaque build-up. Thus, LDL is also known as “atherogenic.”   On the other hand, high density lipase (HDL) is made up of mostly proteins which make these particles weigh more, hence the higher density. Their role in the body is to circulate in the bloodstream and collect cholesterol from n...

In This Post: Does exercising help improve cardiovascular disease in the elderly? Research says yes! But … it depends. It depends on many factors such as the overall wellbeing of the individual, the type of exercise completed, primary care recommendations, and so on.   Condition Cardiovascular disease or CVD refers to any condition that involves the heart and the blood vessels. Those include: 1.      Coronary artery disease (CAD) caused by atherosclerosis 2.      Heart failure (HF) and cardiomyopathy 3.      Rhythm disorders (problems in pumping blood) 4.      Valvular heart disease (disorders of the heart valves) 5.      Infections of the heart 6.   Congenital heart disease However, out of these diseases, some are associated with aging at a higher rate, such as CAD and heart failure. Coronary arteries are the blood vessels that supply the cardia...