Will my husband's past addictions have any impact on his Alzheimer's disease?
My husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a couple of years ago.He drank,smoked,and had a cocaine addiction from his teen years to his middle fifties. He is now sixty-one years old and was diagnosed two years ago. Will these addictions contribute to his disease in any way?
Expert Answer
What a trooper you are! These must have been very difficult years for you. Now you face life with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and that is a life compounded by your husband's past addictive behavior. Research from all points on the globe relates that maintaining a "˜healthy' lifestyle in our younger years helps us to have a smoother sail through our later years. What they suggest is a balanced diet of nutritious low-fat foods, a daily exercise regimen, good sleeping habits, and cognitive exercises to enhance mental health. Smoking, drinking, and drugs do not have a role in taking appropriate care of ourselves as young people so that we may be the best we can be as older adults. Researchers also indicate that all 3 of the addictions you mentioned can negatively impact the progression of AD. There is new and impressive data pointing to smoking alone as increasing the risk of Alzheimer's, and alcohol and drug abuse as possible culprits in killing healthy brain cells. The probable damage to your husband's vital organs most likely began before his diagnosis of AD. His ability to stave off otherwise unthreatening illnesses and maladies of aging has been compromised. Unfortunately his previous behaviors will most likely compound the damage to brain cells that is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. If it is at all possible, love him for who he is now and be with him in this new and unfamiliar world he is now inhabiting. Above all else, do take care of YOU!