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You are here > TCM Palace > Disease Special > Alzheimers disease

Alzheimers disease

Alzheimer's disease, also namedsenile dementia/Alzheimer's type (SDAT) , is the most common cause of intellectual decline with aging. The incidence is approximately 9 out of 10,000 people. This disorder affects women slightly more often than men and occurs primarily in older individuals.
The cause is unknown. Several factors are believed to be involved in the development of the disorder, but have not yet been proven. The neurochemical factors include lack of the substances used by the nerve cells to transmit nerve impulses (neurotransmitters), including acetylcholine, somatostatin, substance P, and norepinephrine. Environmental factors include exposure to aluminum, manganese, and other substances. The infectious factors include prion (virus-like organisms) infections that affect the brain and spinal cord ( central nervous system ). In some families (representing 5 to 10% of cases) there is an inherited predisposition to development of the disorder, but this does not follow strict (Mendelian) patterns of inheritance. The diagnosis is usually made by ruling out other causes of dementia.

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is understood that there are many causative factors for this disease: since the heart houses mind, so when the heart orifice is misted, the mind can not function; kidney houses the will, and when the will is harmed, the previous speech might be easily forgotten; up to the age of eighty, the “Po" (corporeal soul) is away, so the person can not speak and behave in a proper way. Generally speaking there are mainly such causes as: 1). Insufficiency of kidney essence; 2). Dysfunction of mind; 3). Obstruction by phlegm; 4). Blood stagnation blocking meridians and collaterals.

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