Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Hello,
I am Dr. Marie Beatrice Hyppolite. I hold a doctorate in Health Science with emphasis on Global Health and master’s degree in social work. I have over 14 years of experience in the field of health and human services.
This podcast is primarily focused on mental health and the quality-of-life elements that affect it such as divorce, death, domestic violence, trauma, toxic relationships, and single parenthood to name a few. It is no secret that mental health challenges continue to profoundly impact modern society although not enough discussion is given due to stigma. Research has shown an increase of 25 % in mental health crises after COVID-19. It is important to have honest, uncomfortable conversations about mental health while being supportive. Although we are interdependent, change begins with the individual, hence “your world.”
I welcome you to join me on my journey and look forward to your responses.
Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Alzheimer's Disease and Lifestyle Factors
Have you ever wondered how lifestyle choices can impact the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease? Our enlightening conversation with Dr. Florenal Joseph, a biologist and assistant professor at NYU, promises insights into the complexities of Alzheimer's, a neurological disorder often mistaken for mental health issues. We trace its historical roots to Dr. Alois Alzheimer and explore the disease's classification, highlighting its unique cognitive symptoms and the progressive loss of neurons. Dr. Joseph expertly navigates the genetic factors at play, including familial Alzheimer's, which can strike before age 65, and tackles the significant public health implications for women and Black Americans.
Throughout our discussion, Dr. Joseph emphasizes the critical role of lifestyle in brain health, linking conditions like beta-amyloid plaques and tau proteins to the deterioration of brain function. We delve into how regular exercise, a balanced diet, and avoiding harmful substances can act as a protective shield against Alzheimer's, drawing parallels to heart and lung health. This episode doesn't shy away from the challenging questions of early onset Alzheimer's and the societal impact of memory concerns, stressing the importance of a professional evaluation for persistent issues.
The conversation takes a sober turn as we discuss the financial and emotional toll of Alzheimer's on society and caregivers. With a staggering cost to the American government projected to reach one trillion dollars by 2031, Dr. Joseph highlights the urgent need for changes in care and prevention strategies. We shine a light on the mental health challenges faced by caregivers, particularly those in the "sandwich generation," and emphasize the importance of seeking support. As we explore ongoing research efforts and the societal need for better care, Dr. Joseph offers hope and gratitude, remaining committed to future discussions on combating this devastating condition.
Hello everyone. I'm Dr Beatrice Ippolit and this is your World. Today we have a very, very, very special guest with us. He's my friend of 20 years, a very good friend of mine. He is the father to four beautiful children and a husband to the most wonderful woman in this entire world. I have the privilege to welcome my friend, dr Florinal Joseph. Hello, dr.
Speaker 2:Joseph. Wow, dr Ipoli, thank you for this beautiful intro. Good morning, good afternoon, dr Ipoli. It's my pleasure to be here. Thanks for the invitation.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you know, it's a pleasure to have you the invitation.
Speaker 2:Okay, so you know it's a pleasure to have you. All pleasure is mine. I'm so happy to be there, to be on this set with you. It was just a matter of time.
Speaker 1:Okay, all that said, you know. Let me briefly tell you about Dr Joseph. Dr Joseph is a biologist. He has a doctorate degree in biology. He's also an adjoint professor at Brooklyn College. You also work at NYU Long Island. What do you do there?
Speaker 2:That's interesting. Yeah, I work for NYU Medical School. I am an assistant professor at NYU, new York University, and I also I am the assistant director for the cytometry and cell sorting lab at NYU, so I'm doing a lot of stuff over there.
Speaker 1:Okay, so now I know who I should lend my next resume to Interesting. Okay, today we have a very interesting topic to talk about. We're going to talk about Alzheimer's disease. We know Alzheimer's disease, you know it's a very, you know, neurological issues that many people get to affect by it and oftentimes people tend to kind of like connect Alzheimer's disease to mental health disease and there are people who may oftentimes believe that, oh, alzheimer's disease is a mental health problem, while Alzheimer's disease is a neurological issues but not a mental health issues. And Dr Joseph, he's here today to talk about Alzheimer's disease and if there is any possible connection with mental health, it will also bring the clarification. You have the mic, dr.
Speaker 2:D. That is so interesting. What is?
Speaker 1:Alzheimer's disease.
Speaker 2:That is right the way you define it. Of course it's neurological disorders. As a neurological disease, it's mainly characterized by progressive loss of the, specifically the nuance, the nuance which is the building block for your neurological system. So when we are talking about Alzheimer's disease, someone who try to connect it with mental health, they are not wrong to do that. Because if we go back to 1906 when Dr Eloy Alzheimer's discovered a disease, he did not really know what it was, he just noticed that in the patient.
Speaker 2:It was a 51-year-old patient who came to visit him and she came with a very mental disorder, mental problems like memory problems, memory loss. So when he diagnosed her and he noticed some unusual behavior, he did not really know what it was and he called it mental health problem. So if somebody connect Alzheimer's to mental health problem, so if somebody connect Alzheimer's to mental health, that they are not wrong. And we have to wait until 1911 when a psychiatrist in his book he called that disease Alzheimer's, but at the beginning they didn't know how to call it. Just they call it Alzheimer's just to connect it to the the one who discovered the disease, dr Olof.
Speaker 2:It was named after the person who discovered it, that is correct, who discovered the disease. So of course it's characterized by the progressive loss of cognitive functions and again that cognitive function, it's mainly affect the neurons, which is again the building blocks for our brain, our spinal cord, the nervous system in general. So it's a very prevalent disease. It's important, it's a public health issue because financially it costs a lot of money to take care of and epidemiologically it also costs a lot when you see the symptoms, when you see the risk factors, when you see how people can inherit that disease. So it's a very important disease to think about. It's a very important disease to talk about.
Speaker 2:It's also genetic. This is to talk about it's also genetic, it's genetics, that's right. And this one we call it familial Alzheimer's disease or the early onset Alzheimer's disease because, as I said, the major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is age. So because it's a disease they they see mainly in people who are 65 years old or older. However, people who are less than 65 years old can get the disease as well. They see it in those people Children, young adults. That's why they call it early onset Alzheimer's disease. That's the inherited disease, like you see in these young people. So if you are younger than 65 years old and you have the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, you have this difficulty to remember thing, you have this kind of memory loss. If you're looking at all the stages of this disease at the early age, you have it. Of course it may be inherited. That means it's genetics.
Speaker 1:But how common is Alzheimer's disease?
Speaker 2:Alzheimer's disease is very common and again, when we look at the commonalities of Alzheimer's disease, one in every nine individuals older than 65 years old have Alzheimer's disease.
Speaker 1:That's a lot of people.
Speaker 2:In general right, and it's even more prevalent in women. Here in United States, we have about 7 million people who have suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and it's even when I just give you this, one in every five women older than 65 years old here in the United States, according to the Alzheimer's Association, they have Alzheimer's disease.
Speaker 1:So, basically, women are more prone to be diagnosed with the disease compared to men.
Speaker 2:Indeed Women. They are prone to get this disease older than 65 years old than men do, so it's a problem that affects really the majority of women older than 65 years old.
Speaker 1:Is there any research that was conducted mentioning the reason why women are more prone to be affected?
Speaker 2:Look of course that's important. Well, there are work that has been done on that and, again, I said, according to the Association of Alzheimer's who gave those statistics, there are research that have been conducted in this. But also it's like the lifestyle also, because when you see how you can link Alzheimer's disease, for instance, with what we started with the mental health issues, you would see issues like anxiety, like anxiety, and not only anxiety, depression, those health problems. You see them a lot in women and if you see the connections with those I just mentioned depression, anxiety, schizophrenia they are they diagnose those kind of this is more in women than they do in men and as those are connected, alzheimer's diseases are connected to this Schizophrenia is more, like you know, to be diagnosed in men compared to females.
Speaker 2:Schizophrenia I would give that. And the early onset, I believe, is the age of 70. Young adults, then you see it in older. You see it in young adults than you see it in older. It's mainly related to the early onset of Alzheimer's disease that we spoke about earlier. But anxiety, depression, you see those more, they are more prone to see in women than you see them in men. And I'm talking as you're getting older, as you're getting older.
Speaker 1:Those kind of issues, issues you're living with them. You have them. Dr joseph, I'm not, you know, no intention to cut you off, but when you say you know anxiety, depression and stress of you know so we tend to see them more in women compared to men. It's like because we live in a society that put men in a pedestal where they should not show emotion. Men cannot be distressed, men cannot express their emotion. Because I think we live in a stressful world. Anybody can get depressed, can have, can suffer with depression, can get anxious about anything. So but women tend to express, you know they, you know their feelings more compared to men, because men, society cannot put the pressure on you to suppress your emotion this is.
Speaker 2:This is a very good point that you just raised. When it comes to putting out there our emotions, it's easier for women to put out there their emotions than men do. Of course, because of that, you probably may find this prevalence in women than you find it in men. Because women will say it as it is, they will show it as it is. Women will say it as it is, they will show it as it is. Men have the tendency to suppress the mindset that they have.
Speaker 2:You were taught To not complain about certain stuff, to not express yourself in a certain way. That's why, probably because what I'm telling you here it's the result of those kind of statistics, it's the result of polls. They do the polling and they find well, if they have this amount of women, this amount of men, the women will express them more. So the pollsters will definitely come with this kind of statistics saying that it's more prevalent in women. But if they cannot go in the men's mindset to see and get what they have, you understand what I'm saying. So in fact, yes, because research have shown that those kind of symptoms they are very prevalent in women than they are in men. So it could connections with alzheimer's disease. Of course you can see it.
Speaker 2:You see it more as well in women like one in every five women older than 65 years old, they have this disease.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what are the early signs for the disease?
Speaker 2:Look, there are several stages in the when you have the disease. If you look at someone at the early stage who have Alzheimer's disease, actually they break into three separate stages the early stage, the mean stage and the late stage of that disease. So at each stage there is a characteristic for this disease. For instance, in the early stage, when someone was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, at the early stage that person starts to have some kind of memory loss. They have some kind of behavioral issues right at the very early stage and that's why, as this show is for people with who it's covering, this podcast itself covering mental illness, podcast itself covering mental illness if you are living with somebody and you see that person start to have this kind of memory loss, do not wait until it's getting worse. Just see a professional to talk to them about this kind.
Speaker 2:If you see some behavior that you haven't seen previously in that individual, just go to a professional to find out, because it can get to the main stage. At that point the person will not only have this kind of memory loss but there are some cognitive behavior that will happen right. So you may be coming here as a friend of mine and I may not even know that's dr hippolyt, because I I just have this kind of blockage, just this kind of blur in my memory and I cannot recognize it At that time. When I get to the stage that means the disease is very progressed right, my cognitive functions start to get. I start to lose that cognitive function.
Speaker 2:So you will consider that it is a mean stage you know so mean stage, not the severe stage the severe stage, the late stage of the alzheimer's disease, is when you totally forget things. You cannot remember. If you have your pen, you put it right there. You don't remember where you put the pen. Just have it a few minutes ago. You don't remember where it is. You do not remember your family. Your health start to decline, right you? You cannot even take care of yourself. That's the late stage of the disease. So you totally depends on either family members or somebody else to come to take care of you. So at that time the disease is really in the progress stage. That's the severe stage of Alzheimer disease and at that time you really, unfortunately, depend on somebody else to help you.
Speaker 1:So the first stage, you know, like what you will call the mild stage, you know, is the stage that you know anybody around you should really pay attention to any changes that may occur At any stage.
Speaker 2:You should pay attention to the individual who's. Who's diagnosed with Alzheimer's at any stage. However earlier you catch the, the those kind of symptoms, better it is. Although there is no cure I have to tell you this there's no cure for Alzheimer's disease because you catch it, that doesn't mean you will visit your professional and they will find a way to cure it, but they will put you in a situation where they can do some kind of therapy with you that can help you. But if you ignore those signs, those early signs, you ignore them, the consequences will be even worse. So that's why, whenever you catch them, it's important that you go see a professional. They know what to do. Because let me just tell you a little bit.
Speaker 2:I have to go a little bit in depth with this. I didn't want to tell you more about it. What do they see professionally? What do they see the scientists? What they discover? And that's the same thing, I'm sorry. That's the same thing Dr Eloy Alzheimer's discovered in 1906 when that lady of 51 years old visited her visited him, sorry he saw some plaques, plaques that were accumulating in the brain of the part of the patients.
Speaker 1:Right, because when you see those can be at any side of the brain, or is they speak?
Speaker 2:it's specifically in your hippocampus. Okay, it's specifically in your hippocampus. They see, you know your brain is divided into several regions and when they saw those plaques and literally all the neurodegenerative disorders they have to do with your brain. And when he saw those plaques, they called them, in very technical words, beta amyloid plaques. And also they notice there are other type, one type of protein they call it the tau protein T-A-U that like tangles into different region of the brains.
Speaker 2:So when they do, they are the result of some mutations. Right, they are the result of mutations, because those proteins they saw they are the result of different proteins that were mutated, that were responsible for the well functions of the brain. And when they mutate the protein cannot fold properly. I'm sorry I'm getting into some technical words, but it's important for everybody who is watching the show so that they can understand. And the mutations cause those protein not to be folding properly and now they start to accumulate in your brain. And when they are accumulating in your brain, specifically in your hippocampus, so now you start having those kind of issues, those behavioral issues, those memory loss, because they shouldn't be accumulating in your brain so so it's like when they accumulate and sit in your hippocampus.
Speaker 1:Is there anything that can be kind of suppressed there? So what?
Speaker 2:because they trigger the brain atrophy, so they cause your brain to shrink and those kind of atrophy it's not good for you, for your memory, because when your brain shrinks, don't forget everything we are doing. It's a matter of those brains Because they have to fire all the messages. You're talking to me, the way the brain works when you're talking to me, the message that you're sending to me, it goes to my brain and all of those neurons they have to fire to send the message to other region where they should be going to. So, when the brain cannot fire properly, that's why you cannot remember, for instance, where you put the pen, because the region of the brain that should fire to send the message to yourself you know okay, I put it there it cannot do that anymore because of those proteins, those plaques that accumulate in those men there.
Speaker 1:Very interesting, Very very interesting.
Speaker 2:Right. So, and also we have to also consider this we talk about the fact. Again I said one of the risk factors for this disease is age, because as we're getting older, of course, look we, we can have this problem and those neuronal cells, the cells that are in your neurons. One of the problem with them they can't repair themselves. So when you have those cells that get damaged, like the brain, brain atrophy, that happens, those cells, they can get damaged, and when they get damaged, they will die. It's not like your skin cells. The skin cell can die, but they have the ability to reproduce. They can grow, they can reproduce, but the cells in your brain, as soon as they get damaged, they die. You lose that function. They died, you lose that function.
Speaker 2:So that's why your brain is. Every part in your body is precious, but your brain is even more precious because if it's, either you lose it or you gain it. If you lose, if you have those cells damaged, you lose them. You cannot get them back, unfortunately. So that's why we need to take care of ourselves. That's why our lifestyle also is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, the way we are living, what we just feed ourselves with. That can impact our brand the kind of sports that you you're practicing in your life. If you're practicing a sport where you keep getting punches in your head, it's not too good for your brand. It can damage the cells. So your lifestyle is important. Those are important factors we need to take care of your diet as well, your diet is important as well.
Speaker 2:What you're eating Actually, tell me what you put inside of you. I can tell you what kind of health you have, right? So your diet is important. So everything is connected. Of course you can have a family that had the disease. It can be transmitted from parents to offsprings. Your children can have it. If you had the genes, that is mutated Because we have three important genes. They can be mutated and if they mutated, you can pass them on to your offspring. That's where we were talking about familial Alzheimer's disease. When you have those kids who inherit those kind of mutated genes, of course they excuse me they can have the same issue with those plants that accumulates in the brain. But the majority of people who have it it's related to age but so while you mention you know some, your lifestyle.
Speaker 1:So it's like for those who exercise, those who eat healthy, those who carry a good sleep pattern, those who kind of like basically not to get involved into drinking or smoking or doing drugs, drinking or smoking or doing drugs in a way, so all those things are good for people to practice in order to keep their brain healthy.
Speaker 2:It's the same thing for, I would say, your heart. It's the same thing for your lungs. They told you more you smoke, more you can damage your lungs. There are certain stuff you do it can trigger some cardiovascular diseases. You can damage your lungs. There are certain stuff you do it can trigger some cardiovascular diseases. You can damage your heart, and you know the function of your heart is the same thing for your brain. The lifestyle you adopt. That can have the effect on your brain as well. Of course, what you eat, what you drink, can affect your brain. Listen to that, dr Ipoli. My brain is not like a singular part of my body that is detached from the other parts of my body. Everything is interconnected. My brain, actually the neurologist would tell you that's the most important part of your body because it's really controlled. Your whole body, your brain, everything is there, the message, all the cognitive functions. It comes from your brain.
Speaker 1:Because, in order for me to raise my arm, to move my feet to the message may must come from here, that's exactly right.
Speaker 2:That's why you have those no transmitters, those no transmitters, the that's exactly those what make the connections between the action of raising your arms and the message that is, that is sent from your brand to your, to your, to your hand to be raised up. So the neurotransmitters are very important. And imagine you have other stuff, like the plex amyloid plex I'm talking about that accumulates in your brain so the message cannot go across. You will prevent the neurotransmitters to do the job because of those plex that accumulate in your brain. But epidemiologically, that's what's going on the neurotransmitters to do the job because of those plaques that accumulate in your brain. Epidemiologically, that's what's going on and scientifically this is what is happening in your brain.
Speaker 2:But what we have to do for individual A, who doesn't have to understand all of those things we are talking about, but what they have to do, they have to adopt a healthier lifestyle. What they have to do, they have to adopt a healthier lifestyle. You sleep early, you sleep on time, you have the exact amount of time to sleep. You eat on time, you eat what you should be eating, a balanced nutrient that can affect your brain as well. So you eat right, you sleep right. So when you do those things, not only it will affect your whole body, but also it will have an impact on your brain as well. So that's how we can take care of those things and, again, as I said, there's no cure for this disease. So we need to adopt a lifestyle that can help us as we are progressing to this critical age, 65 or older.
Speaker 1:But you know, anybody can be diagnosed, you know, even before the age of 65.
Speaker 2:Indeed, in some cases, we have 5% of individuals in United States who have suffered from Alzheimer's disease. They are younger than 65 years old. Actually, according to the Alzheimer's disease associations, we have about 200,000 of individuals who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease who are younger than 65 years old. That's exactly what we about the all the early onset of alzheimer's disease dr joseph, you mentioned something about you know the pain.
Speaker 1:So it's like you may have the pain, you waste it somewhere and not to remember where you place that pain. So let's say, for example, if I had a pen with me and I put it somewhere and I could not remember, and maybe like a few minutes after I remember, you know where I put it, so am I okay? Or if this is something that happened, like often, should I check myself out? So, because I'm just asking, that is interesting.
Speaker 2:That's a great question and I'm not going to answer that question as a medical doctor. I am not a medical doctor, I'm a scientist and as a scientist, a medical doctor may tell you okay, you're okay or you are not okay. But what I can say as a scientist, when you see those we can forget as well. And as we are progressing in life, we're getting older. So the tendency is that we will lose some cells in our brain. We will lose some neurons, some neuronal cells, I would say, and by losing those cells, definitely we will not have the same clarity, we will not see things the same way we used to see them. So that can happen, that we forget things.
Speaker 2:That doesn't mean we have Alzheimer's disease, but when you see that it's repetitive, you keep forgetting, forgetting, and you see it's getting, it's worsened over time, that's when you need to see a professional, a professional neurologist that can do some tests. They can auscultate you and they will see whether you are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or not. That's what the medical doctor will do, that's what the neurologist will do. But me, as a scientist, I'm here to help you to prevent that. When you see it. That may happen, naturally, but if it persists, just see a professional, go and seek the appropriate help that you may need yeah.
Speaker 1:Dr Joseph, my next question you mentioned about the costly the disease is what way?
Speaker 2:in what way look Alzheimer's disease again in 2021? Alzheimer disease was like the fifth most disease that, the fifth disease that caused the most death in the united states, the fifth one besides breast cancer. We used to cause a lot of death, but alzheimer's disease is one of them. Alzheimer disease this year, according to the alzheimer disease associations in 2024. According to the Alzheimer's Disease Association in 2024,.
Speaker 1:This disease costs the American government $360 billion to take care of those with the disease.
Speaker 2:Don't forget I said that we have about 7 million individuals over 65 years old who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. It costs the government $360 billion and they project that by 2031, it will cost the federal government one trillion of dollars. That's a lot of money.
Speaker 1:So it costs a lot of money.
Speaker 2:It's a very big burden financial burden on the government. So that's why we need to change the way we think, take care of that. We need to do something so that we can see how we can decrease that. Do not forget, I said, in our lifetime, one in five women over 65 years old will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Here in the United States, and even among us, black individuals two-thirds of us who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. They are blacks. Two-thirds of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease are blacks. So that's a population, that's a group, that's an ethnic group we need to think about and that's why I think it's a mental health issue and that's as professionals who are in the field, who are working in this field. So it's a very important topic we should be discussing every time and everywhere, because the more you know about it, it more you will change your lifestyle and more you will try to reduce the prevalence of this kind of disease.
Speaker 1:But you know, not only you know the disease can be a burden to those who are personally impacted by it, but to the family members or the caretakers as well. Because when you have a family member, like a mother, a father, an aunt, a grandparent, who suffers with the disease, now you have to take care of that person and taking care of your sick mother or sick father. And having that person right there in front of you who doesn't remember who you are, that you are hey, that's my mom, and my mom does not even remember that I am her daughter. My father doesn't remember, remember that I am her, his daughter it's. It's a toll that can take a toll on you Now as a child, and you know how your mother, how your father, how your grandmother or grandfather used to invest in you, to be dear for you. All of a sudden, because of that disease, they can't even remember who you are.
Speaker 2:This is a very interesting point you just raised. That's what we call the sporadic aspect of the disease, not only genetics, as we spoke about it earlier. The sporadic part of it is like that's exactly what you just said that can lead to depression, because if you're observing your parents, who are suffering from that disease, and you are the one taking care of him or her, and even though you are not 65, and you see that, that can put you in a state of depression. And when you are in the state of depression, the same Anxiety, all of those things, you have hormone that will be released and those hormone that will be released. That's what will damage those normal cells that I was talking about. And when they damage this, look at you, who were fine, but just by seeing your family member in that state and you're taking care of them, you become depressed. So now you are prone to Alzheimer's disease as well. So you see the correlations just by seeing your parents and taking care of it, of him or her, you are prone to the disease as well, because you have those hormones that will be released. If you don't take care of yourself, you have to take care of yourself as well. That's why and I'm saying this to anyone out there who is taking care of a parent or a grandparent who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease while you're taking care of that parent, you need to seek for help as well. That's why I say mental health issues. You need to seek help because you need it. If not, you are also prone to the disease as you're progressing in life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a very good point you raise. That's. That's. That's important. That's crucial, dr joseph. It's extremely important. Yeah, depression, anxiety and people. There are people in life just to see someone you love in that state, that can cause several type of issues to you. Anxiety Sometimes you may think, okay, it's a simple thing, but it's not that simple.
Speaker 2:Stress when you have that kind of stress, you are stressed of taking care of your parents because you are not that free. You can't do everything you want to do just because you have to be there for your parents. That's great, because they have been there for you. Now it's your turn to be there for them, and when you are there for them, that's what we call an economy opportunity cost. So you have to leave something to take care of your parents. Thanks God we are living in the United States there is a health care system that can provide to them and that's why it's so costly. It's a financial burden for the government. It costs 360 billion dollars on the federal government. Because sometimes that's the relief for you you may not be there for your parents, but because the government can send professional to help your parents.
Speaker 1:At that time you can do something else and, I believe, like the biggest problem for those who are taking care of a family member who may suffer with Alzheimer, it's often time they have their own families that they have to take in care. While you have your own family and you have your parents or your grandparents I believe that they call them sandwich generation, where you have to take care of them.
Speaker 2:In between two categories, two generations your grandparents, your family member, and the younger children that you have as well. So you are in the middle of them and you have to take care of all of those. Exactly, that's the sandwich generation that you're talking about.
Speaker 1:And so just imagine the pressure, the anxiety, all the stress that you have to go through to kind of raise your own family and now you have to deal with the sickness of your parents or your grandparents. It's a lot. If you don't get the appropriate help that you need to help you tangle or move the right way in that dance, life can be really, can be really challenging for you and before you even know it, like dr joseph said, you may, you may end up being really sick. Uh, you know yourself. It's very important, you know to seek out help.
Speaker 1:It's very important, whomever that you can rely on to get some extra or additional help, do it, don't be afraid, don't feel ashamed to ask for help, because if I am your friend and you are in need at this moment, just call me Beatrice. I need your assistance, I need some time out, I need a me time today. Can you come and stay with my mother for me, can you come and be the care taker for today or two days, or for the weekend, two days or for the weekend? And if I am a good friend and I care for you, trust me, I'll be there to assist you.
Speaker 2:So I don't know what to take of that. This is that's. I couldn't say it in better than the way you just said it, dr Ibole, because we need to rely on somebody that we trust. We need to rely on people. It's a public health issue. As I said, alzheimer's, it's a public health issue. Actually, I just told you how much it costs the federal government, so the government spent. A third of Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer's will die from that disease at the early age. When I said early age, that means when you're diagnosed with it, and if you were to live 85 years old, you will die before that time you were to live 85 years old, you will die before that time.
Speaker 1:Is that true? The longest you live with the disease after you were diagnosed, it's 10 years.
Speaker 2:That's what they said. Actually, it's 10 to 15 years maximum. That's what they said. As soon as you're diagnosed older than 65, you're diagnosed with the disease. Your lifespan is about 10 to 15 years after diagnosis. That's what the researchers say. It could be less too. It can be less, it can be less and, again, one in three people diagnosed with the disease will die earlier than that. And that's exactly. It's not only, I would say, a memory loss disease issue. It's not that. It kills also. It kills also. It kills also. Alzheimer's disease kills also, and we do not really have enough people to take care of our elderly who are diagnosed with the disease. Actually, according to the Alzheimer's Association I quote it a lot because of the cries they are having out there From 2021, three years ago to 20 2031, we will need one million professionals to take care of when you say professional nursing, what categories, like neurologists you know and anyone who can take care of those elderly diagnosed with the alzheimer's disease, whether it's neurologists and the nurses, all of those.
Speaker 2:We need about a million of professionals in this field to help those people. Because the population is growing more and more people. The prevalence is getting higher and higher among those people older than 65 years old today to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. And I have to tell you, alzheimer's disease about 60 to 80 percent of all the dementia cases. That means people diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, huntington's disease, als. All of those, alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent one. Prevalent 60 to 80% of them are people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Speaker 1:That's a large number.
Speaker 2:Very, very large number. That's why this is an important topic. Very, very large number. That's why this this is an important topic. Uh, I couldn't be so happy and grateful when you ask me if we can talk about it, because, although it's so prevalent, we don't really hear much about it. People don't talk much about them because it's a matter of brand, it's a matter of memory loss, so they don't really talk about this.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's an old people disease. Old people disease. So it's like you know, just for the fact that I turned 65, I'm old enough to be dead. No, You're never too old.
Speaker 2:You're never too young. You're never too old. That's not the point of this. So we need to take care of our geriatric populations, those people who are older than 65. We need to take care of them.
Speaker 1:They can live longer if we provide the best care we could to them it's very important, you know, we know, while we are approaching the end of this show, what are the treatments for alzheimer's. Is there any treatment?
Speaker 2:as I said, there isn't any cure for alzheimer's disease. There's no treatment, if not therapy and the lifestyle you're conducting. Um, and also literally, when I say lifestyle, it has not only it's about what you're eating, but it's about how can you keep yourself happy, to be less stressed, less anxious, so you can reduce the level of depression that you can have. So it's literally your lifestyle, because there is no cure, the only thing they can like. I'm talking the language of the scientists right now.
Speaker 1:Before you even go any further, dr Joseph, you mentioned something or something very important. You said less stress, but since, cognitively, I already lost the function you know of my brain. So even though I'm, I suffer with Alzheimer. But if I'm stressful, I I'm going to be aware of that, I can be aware that I am stressful.
Speaker 2:That's a very good question. Sometimes, even at your age, at my age, we are stressed without being aware that we are stressed. That's something we have to be aware of also, because it's not all the time you are stressed and say I'm feeling very stressed right now, you can feel it. But sometimes you are stressed and say I'm feeling very stressed right now, you can feel it. But sometimes you are very stressed but you think okay, life goes on. Look, if you got this kind of impairment in your cognitive functions, you will not even be aware of it. You can only feel the effect of that. So that's the same thing for us. Sometimes you go to work, your body has a toll on it, but what you feel, it's your daily activities. You just go, you don't feel any problem. Sometimes you can feel anxious, you can feel stress. Of course, if you have an exam you're going to take, you feel like, oh, you're so anxious because you're not that ready for the exam. Or even if you're ready for the exam, you still feel that anxiety. But still you can try to control it because your body is responding to it. And by responding to it, what does that mean? You have hormone that will be secreted right to it. That what does that means you have hormone that will be secreted right in the those cortisol. They will be that, the cortisol will be secreted and those neurotransmitters will transport them and they can try to calm you down. That's exactly what happens with your body. It's a response to it, but when you have the problem, you lose that functions. You already have the Alzheimer's disease. You are the the main stage of that.
Speaker 2:That means the memory loss is a very important characteristics for that. So you don't, you are not even aware of everything that is happening to you. You don't know, and when it's getting severe it's even worse because you don't care about anyone who comes here. You may be care, actually, if I just want to rephrase, you may be care about somebody else, but someone may come here. You don't care about anyone who comes here. You may be care actually, if I just want to rephrase, you may be care about somebody else, but someone may come here. You don't even know who is that person. You totally forget about people. You forget about everything. Your body is declining. You don't know. You really don't know. You're just living, just for living, and you're not aware mainly about anything else that is going on around you okay, Okay, that's very important and thank you so much for all those information.
Speaker 1:So, at the end of the day, so we know Alzheimer's disease is real. It is real and we have to treat it as such, Be dear for those we love who may suffer from the disease and be dear for those who are taking care of the sick people as a friend, as a family member, as a neighbor. You know, let's be that community. You know who will be there, will be involved and be supportive to one another. Any further thought or ideas on that before we close out?
Speaker 2:You said it right. As a scientist myself and I know there are a lot of work that is being done worldwide in the scientific community and also here in the United States. A lot of people, a lot of scientists. They are working every day to find a better way to avoid that disease or to provide some kind of relief to that disease, by working every day, by targeting those genes, the mutations in those kind of genes, what they can do to help them. So before we get to the result because we don't have them yet, we need to take care of ourselves and always know, while you're taking care of your adult parents who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, think about yourself too. Think about seeing a professional so that they can provide the guidance, the counsel they can provide to you, so that while you're taking care of your parents, you are not also a victim of the same disease you're taking care of your parents for.
Speaker 1:Well said. Thank you everyone who are watching or listening at this moment, and in the comment section for those who will be watching the show on YouTube, you will have all the resources listed for you In other. You know if you have the need to call somewhere, you know there are headlines out there. You know when you feel that, hey, I'm dealing with too many pressure or it's too much for me at this time. So there are numbers that you can use and make a phone call and get the help that you need. With that said, it was a pleasure to have you, dr Joseph. I'm really really, really, really happy that you were able to make it. Thank you, and thank you so much All pleasures are mine.
Speaker 2:Dr Ipulit, I'm so excited that you invited me, and I can tell I'm here whenever you need me. I will still be there for you. Thank you very much for the invitation again.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's it everyone. I'll see you next time. It was with your Dr, beatrice Ipulit, with your doctor, beatrice Ippolit, with your World.