The causes and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, which involves memory loss and mental decline, are still unknown. It is a question of how much it evolved due to genetic factors and how much it evolved due to environment or civilization. Research conducted by the University of Southern California from historical sources concludes that mainly cultural reasons could be behind this.
the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease The authors of the paper published in the Journal of Analysis of Ancient Greek and Roman Texts looked at contemporary descriptions of dementia and concluded that the disease was very rare 2,000 to 2,500 years ago.
The ancient Greeks had very, very few, but we found one that described mild cognitive impairment. Among Romans, we found at least four cases describing advanced dementia – we do not know whether these are Alzheimer's disease. But there was an increase from Greeks to Romans
Caleb Finch, a professor at the University of Southern California's School of Gerontology, explained.
The Greeks understood that with age comes memory decline, but they did not write about complete loss of memory or loss of the ability to speak. In the texts of Hippocrates and his colleagues, deafness, dizziness, and digestive system disorders were mentioned among the diseases of old age, but memory was not mentioned once.
Centuries later, Galen, a Roman physician of Greek origin, mentioned that after the age of eighty, it is difficult for older people to remember things. Pliny the Elder writes of a case in which the famous orator and senator Valerius Messala Corvinus forgot his name. According to Cicero
The stupidity of old age is characteristic (…) of irresponsible old people, but not of all old people.
According to Finch, the fact that Roman cities were more densely populated at the time may have played a role in the cases mentioned, which could have led to the disease spreading further. In addition, the Romans built lead aqueducts, cooked in lead pots, and sometimes sweetened wine with lead acetate. At the time, they knew nothing about lead being dangerously toxic to the nervous system. Although ancient authors suggested the possibility of a problem with lead, it was only the twentieth century for humanity. The horn became clear. Some historians go so far as to say that it was lead that caused the fall of the Roman Empire, but it returned to dementia.
The mood is good at the edge of the forest
Since there was no other demographic and statistical data on the ancient Greeks and Romans, Finch and his colleagues continued their research by examining the Tsimane tribe living in the Bolivian rainforest. The Tsimane indigenous people are living examples of the ancients in that they continue the lifestyle of their pre-industrial ancestors. Aside from the lack of achievement we are used to and their high body temperature, one of the main characteristics is that they are very physically active and move a lot.
The international group that examined the Tsimane region found that the incidence of senile dementia among the elderly was about 1 percent. In the United States, for example, this rate is 11% for those over 65 years of age.
Tsimane data is very deep and very valuable. This is the best documented population with minimal incidence of dementia among older adults, meaning that environment is a very large determinant of dementia risk. They are the basis for asking questions
Professor Finch stated.
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