Depression and Memory Loss

Depression and memory loss are some of the constituent symptoms of dementia, which in itself could be a possible symptom of either Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease. The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease start with mild dementia that is sometimes mistaken for regular aging. The disease begins with memory loss and the slow loss of cognitive function. The disease progresses with the loss of brain tissue that manifests in the loss of body functions and eventually death comes shortly afterward. Parkinson’s disease is a similar neurodegenerative disease with the loss of motor coordination and function. This disease causes tremors, rigidity, an awkward gait, speech problems, drooling among other motor skill problems. Depression is also a symptom that occurs because the patient sees oneself degenerating slowly as well as because of the lack of dopamine in the brain. Dementia and short-term memory loss, difficulty in language skills and hallucinations are some of the other effects of this disease before the symptoms progress to cause death.

Both of these diseases develop and progress due to the effect of cholinesterase. Cholinesterase is an enzyme that metabolizes the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for action in a nerve by opening a sodium channel that depolarizes the cell. When there is a high amount of cholinesterase in the brain, the neurotransmitter is not able to ensure that actions take place in the neurons. One of the major treatments of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease is the use of anti-cholinesterase inhibitors. Parkinson’s disease also requires the administration of dopamine that has been identified as one of the reasons for the degradation associated with Parkinson’s disease.

The key to retaining function when suffering either of these two diseases is to continuously keep the brain busy in cognitive functions by indulging is social activities, reading, playing complicated mind games like chess and other activities that exercise cognitive function. Most neurodegenerative diseases have a genetic trail that makes most patients prone to them. Some of the preventative treatments that have been advised are ensuring that all the vitamins in the B group and folic acid intake is kept at its optimal levels. Gingko has also been promoted as a preventative treatment. It is also been observed that people who are bilingual and play some kind of musical instrument can delay or not be susceptible to the disease at all. Avoiding strong magnetic fields is advisable as these have been implicated in the progression of the disease.