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Dementia, especially Alzheimer's, has become a global issue, and on top of that ranking is Finland and on top of that Finnish women:
“The country with the most cases of Alzheimer's Disease is Finland. There are 54.65 cases of Alzheimer's for every 100,000 people in this country. These numbers and statistics put Finland in the extremely high occurrence and high prevalence range for the disease. Interestingly, females are much more likely to have Alzheimer's in Finland than males. For every 100,000 people, Alzheimer's impacts 55.32 females compared to just 52.10 males” (WPR).According to an EU report, 19.9% of Finns who die, die of Dementia, and in particular Alzheimer's disease.
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| Prevalence of welfare diseases in Finland. |
Some claim that Dementia and Alzheimer's mainly is a neurological disease, but a comparison with Finland's neighbor Sweden show a dramatic difference in prevalence. Among Swede's who die, 9.8% die of Dementia/Alzheimers.
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| Prevalence of welfare diseases in Sweden. |
The magnitude of the difference in prevalence between the countries, which share a longstanding common history and ancestry, rejects a biological main effect. The most likely explanation is nurture.
That supports the claim that Finns who speak Swedish have better health and live longer (Researchers at Helsingfors city, 2023).
Because language is creating and carrying culture, the conclusion is that culture (nurture) explains a large part of the variance for Alzheimer's disease.
How do one spot potential Alzheimer's?
One marker for Alzheimer's is agitation including aggression Carririni et al. (2021):
“Agitation is a behavioral syndrome characterized by increased, often undirected, motor activity, restlessness, aggressiveness, and emotional distress. According to several observations, agitation prevalence ranges from 30 to 50% in Alzheimer's disease.”Yu et al. 2019:
“Individuals with Alzheimer's disease have five times higher odds of aggression than healthy controls”.Finland has huge issues with women's relational aggressiveness (Crick och Grotpeter, 1995, Hyde, 2005; Helsingfors Police department, 2022).
If the culture-approach is true, then lifestyle will be a part of the answer, e.g. how often we consume food. One such approach is intermittent fasting. Fasting is not a new thing. Our ancestors probably were forced to fast when they lived on the Savannah. And religious groups have used fasting as a means to control people. Researchers have recently taken a look at how fasting, and in particular intermittent fasting, impact Dementia (Alzheimer's disease).
The cardinal pathological marker of Alzheimer’s disease is β-amyloid accumulation.
Elias, Padinjakara and Lautenschlager, 2023:
“Animal studies have demonstrated synaptic adaptations in the hippocampus and enhanced cognitive function after fasting, consistent with these theoretical frameworks. Furthermore, vascular dysfunction plays a crucial role in Alzheimer’s disease pathology, and intermittent fasting promotes vascular health”.
“These observations lead to a hypothesis that intermittent fasting over the years will potentially reverse or delay the pathological process in Alzheimer’s disease”.
“In conclusion, Intermittent Fasting (IF) exhibits beneficial effects against Alzheimer's Disease (AD).
The results showed that IF ameliorated cognitive dysfunction, prevented brain from Aβ deposition, and restored the AQP4 polarity in a mouse model of AD (APP/PS1 double-transgenic mice). Additionally, IF down-regulated the expression of AQP4-M1 and histone deacetylase 3, reduced AQP4-M1/M23 ratio, and increased miR-130a expression in the cerebral cortex of APP/PS1 mice. In vitro, β-hydroxybutyrate was found to down-regulate the expression of AQP4-M1 and histone deacetylase 3, reduce AQP4-M1/M23 ratio, and increase AQP4-M23 and miR-130a expression in 2 μM Aβ-treated U251 cells. Interestingly, on the contrary to the result observed in 2 μM Aβ-treated cells, AQP4 expression was obviously decreased in cells exposed to 10 μM Aβ. miR-130a mimic decreased the expression of AQP4-M1 and the ratio of AQP4-M1/M23, as well as silencing histone deacetylase 3 caused the up-regulation of AQP4 and miR-130a, and the reduction of AQP4-M1/M23 ratio in U251 cells”.
“Our review shows that there is no clear evidence of a positive short-term effect of IF on cognition in healthy subjects. Clinical studies show benefits of IF for epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis on disease symptoms and progress”.Nicolas and Nolan (2022):
“In our aging global population and with no effective treatments, the cognitive impairments associated with Alzheimer’s disease represent a major healthcare problem. A recent study in Nature Aging highlights intermittent fasting as a potential way to decrease the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in mice through changes to the gut microbiota”.Whittaker et al. 2023:
“Here, we show that time-restricted feeding (TRF) without caloric restriction improved key disease components including behavioral timing, disease pathology, hippocampal transcription, and memory in two transgenic (TG) mouse models of [Alzheimer's disease] AD. We found that TRF had the remarkable capability of simultaneously reducing amyloid deposition, increasing Aβ42 clearance, improving sleep and memory, and normalizing daily transcription patterns of multiple genes, including those associated with AD and neuroinflammation”Ye et al. 2023:
“The evidence suggests that brain energy deficits lead to the development and progression of AD pathology. IF, which improves brain energy impairments by promoting ketone metabolism, thus has good therapeutic potential for AD”.
“Our study showed that prolonged IF [17-18h for 30 days] affects the activities of autophagy, inflammasome, and senescence in a time-dependent manner”.
Conclusion. Finland has the most Alzheimer's disease cases per capita in the world. The likely explanation is not nature but nurture, that is, caused by culture. Women who do not speak Swedish seem to be most affected. Aggression is a marker. Finland has issues with relational aggressive women. Animal and human studies show that intermittent fasting (12-48 hours) shows beneficial result on Alzheimer's disease.
Also read:
Österberg (2024). Nutrition psychology. Meat and health. The case for Continued Influence bias.
Österberg (2024). Nutrition psychology. Are [Swedish] meatballs and mashed potatoes part of the Uralic-Finnish heritage?
Österberg (2024). Nutrition Psychology. A series of lectures for people who are interested in expanding their knowledge about food and mental health.
Österberg (2024). Nutrition psychology. Mental health and entrepreneurial thinking in Finland. The tension between enlightenment - tribal culture
Österberg (2024). Nutrition psychology. ADHD and Alzheimer's disease in Finland. Nurture is more likely explanation compared to nature
Österberg (2024). Nutrition psychology. Former mayor of Helsingfors suffered from cardio vascular disease (CVD). Is that explained by “natural stupidity" and will he accept nutrition science?
Österberg (2024). Nutrition psychology. Is relational aggressiveness a precursor to Alzheimer's? A comparison between Finland and Sweden.
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