How to supplement folic acid and B12 to prevent cerebral infarction and Alzheimer’s disease in middle-aged and elderly people? one essay

Some time ago, the Beijing Daily published an article saying: Li Guangxi, a famous singer in my country, died of a sudden cerebral infarction.

Li Guangxi has left us countless classics, from the “Toast Song” sung in the Spring Festival Gala for the first time in 1979, to the later singing of “Song of Shepherd”, “Sunshine” Come Out Happy”, etc., are almost all golden songs of the era. However, the disease mercilessly took him away…

People are middle-aged and old, and various diseases are high.There are 2 The major diseases are cerebral infarction and senile dementia, which seriously endanger the health of middle-aged and elderly people.

First, the incidence of cerebral infarction is high in the elderly, and the mortality rate is high

< span> According to data, about 2 million people die of cerebral infarction in my country every year. Clinically, cerebral infarction is called ischemic stroke, which is manifested as the obstruction of blood supply to the brain due to some reasons, which in turn induces symptoms of ischemia and hypoxia, and finally leads to ischemic necrosis and softening of localized brain tissue.

There are many causes of cerebral infarction, including atherosclerosis, moyamoya disease, Takayasu arteritis, improper neck massage or neck trauma, heart disease etc., and when a cerebral infarction occurs, the following symptoms may occur:

Blurred vision: A cerebral infarction can cause The optic nerve is damaged, causing retinal ischemia and hypoxia, and the patient will suddenly experience blurred vision, or transient black eyes, These symptoms usually last only a few seconds;

dizziness and headache: When the blood supply to the brain is insufficient, the Causes abnormal dizziness and headache symptoms in patients, which generally do not last for too long, relieves after a few minutes;

drooling on one side of the body:If drooling occurs on only one side, be vigilant. This is likely to be caused by the infarction of the blood vessels in the brain, resulting in the uncoordinated muscles and nerves causing abnormal oral occlusion, and then the symptoms of drooling on one side;

unilateral body Stiffness and facial numbness: Many cerebral infarction patients reported that they had symptoms of slanted mouth and slanted eyes and weakness on one side of the limbs before the onset of the disease span>, this is mostly a manifestation of abnormal brain function that affects the whole body.

Second, 1 person in the world suffers from Alzheimer’s disease every 3 seconds

In addition to cerebral infarction, Alzheimer’s disease is also a disease that seriously threatens the life safety of the elderly in clinical practice, and once the disease occurs, it is irreversible, and its development speed can only be delayed by means of drugs.

According to statistics, there are about 35 million senile dementia patients worldwide, and the number of senile dementia patients in my country has exceeded 10 million, accounting for 1/4.

Occurrence of dementia and age, cardiovascular disease, poor lifestyle, etc. factors are closely related. In addition, Alzheimer’s has been linked to excess weight, social skills, and educational attainment.

When Alzheimer’s strikes, the body will send out some abnormal signals. What are the specific ones?

Memory decline: memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s, generally forgetting recent events, past memory in the early stage Generally, it will not have much impact;

language dysfunction: often talk to the mouth but can’t say it, For some common items, it is difficult to express correctly;

the previously familiar work is difficult to perform: such as the chef does not know how to cook, Bank clerks don’t order money, and drivers don’t recognize the way;

often misplaced items: Put socks on the fruit basket, or put the kitchen knife on the sofa;

Mood, behavior changes: Small everyday things can make him irritated, angry, and even cry loudly. Older people who prefer cleanliness can become very sloppy.

Third, the “nemesis” of cerebral infarction and Alzheimer’s disease has been found, two kinds of substances may wish to add more

In fact, both cerebral infarction and senile dementia can be prevented, and current studies have found that supplementing two more substances may prevent cerebral infarction and senile dementia in the elderly.

  • Folic acid

Folic acid is also known as a vitamin B9, which is a water-soluble vitamin, is one of the essential elements in the body.

Some studies have found that the lack of folic acid in methionine metabolism in the elderly will lead to an increase in homocysteine, and homocysteine ​​can damage the vascular endothelium in vivo. cell. Long-term abnormally elevated levels are likely to lead to stroke.

Appropriate supplements for the elderlyFolic acid, can reduce the level of homocysteine ​​in the body to a certain extent, and also play a role in reducing the risk of stroke.

In addition, some studies have found that folic acid deficiency can impair cognitive function. Elderly people with insufficient folic acid content in the body will have a certain impact on brain cognition and neural signal infection.< /span>May increase the risk of dementia later in life.

Therefore, for middle-aged and elderly people, if they want to prevent cerebral infarction and dementia, Folic acid supplementation is very important. Folic acid is a substance that cannot be synthesized by itself.It can only be supplemented through diet and drugs.

Foods high in folic acid includerapese, spinach, cabbage, pomegranate, peaches, walnuts, pork liver, barley , corn and millet, etc., when ingesting these foods daily, we should pay attention to eating as fresh as possible, and the folic acid content in stale ingredients will be greatly reduced. At the same time, it should be noted that the cooking methods should be boiled and fried as much as possible.

Some people who cannot supplement enough folic acid through diet, may take medicine to supplement under the guidance of a doctor Be sure to follow the doctor’s advice when taking medication, and don’t blindly increase the dosage by yourself, which may easily bring some unnecessary risks to your health.

  • Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is also a B vitamin One of them, also known as cobalamin, is generally found in animal foods, but not in plant foods. After entering the body, vitamin B12 can exist in the form of coenzyme, increase the body’s absorption rate of folic acid.

In addition, British researchers also found that vitamin B12 can prevent Alzheimer’s , the researchers analyzed the blood samples of hundreds of subjects and found that: if the content of vitamin B12 in the blood of subjects maintained at about 1/3 of the normal value, the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease Risk is 3 times higher than normal..

In other words, sufficient vitamin B12 content can help the elderly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease to a certain extent.

So, how can we supplement vitamin B12?

Under normal circumstances, the body’s needs can be fully met through the daily diet, and it is recommended to consume more animal offal, egg yolk , beef and mutton, chicken and whole milk and other foods, these foods can be eaten appropriately under the premise of a balanced diet.

According to a report released by the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, the recommended daily intake of vitamin B12 for Chinese residents over the age of 14 is 2.4 μg.

Converting 100g of chicken liver contains 49μg of vitamin B12, the daily diet can fully meet the body’s needs, no need to take additional measures.

For the elderly, in addition to maintaining a balanced diet, we must pay attention to ensuring The intake of folic acid and vitamin B12 is sufficient to avoid unnecessary risks to one’s health due to insufficient intake, and at the same time, it can effectively prevent the occurrence of cerebral infarction and Alzheimer’s disease.

References:

[1] “More and more “cerebral infarction”? If you have these 4 signs, seek medical attention immediately! “. Senior Daily. 2021-12-28

[2] “Long time playing mobile phone can cause cerebral infarction? These habits are no joke! “. Popular Science China. 2022-03-16

[3] “Cerebral infarction does not fall into the air. If this symptom occurs in the head, be alert to the distress signal sent by the brain”. Medical Neurology Channel. 2020 -08-20

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