Each year, early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease affect the daily lives of a growing number of Americans under 65. As measured by the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Health IndexSM in 2017, about 131,000 commercially insured Americans1 between the ages of 30 and 64 were diagnosed with either condition.
Dementia is a general term for cognitive decline in excess of typical aging. An adult with early-onset dementia may have trouble with memory, language and cognitive skills that can make it difficult to perform routine tasks. Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia characterized by progressive brain deterioration, memory loss and an inability to independently care for oneself.2
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According to the article the average age for combined early-onset dementia and early-onset Alzheimer's is 49 years. However, the statistics in the article apply only to commercially-insured Americans, which leaves out a large part of the U.S. population.
We know from other sources that Americans are in bad shape when it comes to brain health. On February 1 the Daily Mail highlighted a research finding that a third of Americans walk around in a concussion-like daze. From the report:
I noted the first time I linked to the Mail report that the study needs to be expanded. From all the reports I've seen in the past few years about sleep issues, one-third is a great underestimate. It can't be any other way, given the large number of Americans who ignore the brain's need for time to clear out gunk it accumulates during waking hours. The housekeeping chore takes about eight hours. If the cleanup can't be completed on a routine basis, you will experience dementia-like symptoms; there's no way around it.The study was published in the Sports Medicine journal in January
The authors surveyed almost 31,000 student-athletes from NCAA institutions and military service academies
Between 11 and 27 percent of student-athletes without a recent concussion reported symptoms that can be linked to post-concussion syndrome (PCS)
Common symptoms include fatigue, low energy, and drowsiness
The study says the symptoms are due to stress and a lack of sleep
From A sleep expert explains what happens to your body and brain if you don't get enough sleep, Business Insider, March 2019 (emphasis mine):
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We certainly know that a lack of sleep will actually prevent your brain from being able to initially make new memories, so it's almost as though without sleep the memory inbox of the brain shuts down and you can't commit new experiences to memory. So those new incoming informational emails are just bounced, and you end up feeling as though you're amnesiac. You can't essentially make and create those new memories.
We also know that a lack of sleep will lead to an increased development of a toxic protein in the brain that is called beta-amyloid and that is associated with Alzheimer's disease because it is during deep sleep at night when a sewage system within the brain actually kicks in to high gear and it starts to wash away this toxic protein, beta-amyloid.
So if you're not getting enough sleep each and every night, more of that Alzheimer's-related protein will build up. The more protein that builds up, the greater your risk of going on to develop dementia in later life.
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Here are 11 signs that can indicate early-onset dementia, from Bustle's June 2019 article on the topic:
1. You've Been Experiencing Memory Changes
2. You Suddenly Despise Any Kind Of Change
3. You Keep Getting Lost
4. You Can't Remember Anyone's Name
5. Your Behaviors & Moods Have Changed
6. You're Suddenly Bad At Making Decisions
7. You Can't Remember That Restaurant's Name
8. You've Been Getting Easily Confused
9. You Struggle To Recall What You Just Read
10. You Struggle To Learn New Things
11. You're Experiencing Depression
Regarding that #11 sign, the BCBS article mentions that 57% of people with early-onset Alzheimer's had gotten a prescription for an antidepressant in the year prior to diagnosis.
That doesn't necessarily mean the depression was brought on in whole or part by people experiencing the symptoms of Alzheimer's. But from the Bustle article, I think it's a reasonable assumption that people experiencing significant memory and behavior changes can become quite depressed. It's awful when you realize something's very wrong with your mind but you don't know what it is, and you keep trying to shrug it off, or chalk it up to situations you feel you should be able to control.
But you can't control a situation you don't understand.
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