Read something scary about alzheimers disease.

[hairyfairy]

I was on facebook, & I read that people with delayed sleep phase disorder, meaning extreme night owls. have a gene that causes alzheimers. I`m an extreme night owl, 7 now I`m terrified that I`m destined to get alzheimers no matter what I do to try & avoid it. Has anyone else on this site heard of this link?

[Hidden]

Hi hairy x I to am a night owl, I try to think of it as not being something that's coming my way in the future more a habit I've created out of fear and anxiety. We read these things and they make us stop and think, but then you have to ask are you going to spend years worrying about something you may never get, or worry about it and waste them precious years xx donver x

[hairyfairy]

I just wish that they`d hurry up & find out what really causes this dreadful disease, instead of scaring people with various theories, or at least come up with a cure. It`s the thing that I dread most about aging.

[mimii]

Hi fairy, I keep reading articles on all the bad ways lack of sleep affect your health, as I never get the recommended 8 hours a night it is worrying , think I'm going to stop reading about things like that, one week coffees good for you the next it's bad perhaps ignorance is bliss xx

[hairyfairy]

I can`t help but envy our ancestors sometimes, because although their lives were a lot harder than ours, at least they didn`t have to contend with all these reports of things that are supposed to be bad for you, they just got on with life.

[npkb]

I haven't read that one, but have read that lack of sleep generally can be one of many, many risk factors for alzheimers. (Which include being overweight - and being underweight! )

All my family without exception are owls; almost all have lived to 85 and beyond with brains as sharp as ever. My late grandfather, worrying about the possibility "going senile" when he reached 89, spent his days testing himself with advanced mathematics and memorising pages of Latin poetry . . . ! He had a mostly sedentary lifestyle, smoked, loved meat, puddings, great dollops of cream and lots of sugar, ate relatively few fruit or veg.

My mother, now 88, never smoked, was always physically active, walked for miles, had an excellent diet - loved fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts etc, was always mentally and socially active, had a mentally challenging and fulfilling job - in short, did all the things we are meant to do to avoid alzheimers. She is the only one in generations of her family to suffer from alzheimers.

In short, until I read anything that proves otherwise, I believe if you're going to get it, you're going to get it. Scary, but console ourselves with the thought that a few generations ago most people wouldn't have lived long enough to get it.

[hairyfairy]

I can`t help but wonder if those who get alzheimers are destined to get it whatever they do!