Your eyes may reveal signs you have Alzheimer’s disease.

This was news to me when I heard that the eyes are often referred to as the “window of the soul.” They also may indicate the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is thought to be caused by an abnormal build-up of proteins in and around brain cells. Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine noted that the same amyloid plaques that build up in the brains of dementia patients also build up in the retina of the eye. The plaques are protein deposits that serve a roadblock and impede the performance of brain cells. Brain cell is a generic term for the neurons and glial cells and the neurons are nerve cells responsible for processing and transmitting information through the nervous system. Alzheimer’s manifests initially with marked memory loss and lapses in judgement which gives the idea if somebody’s brain cells are damaged. In the later stages, balance, coordination, as well as automatic functions like heart rate, breathing, digestion, and sleep cycles are severely affected, essentially limiting mobility.

I have witnessed it first hand during my time working at the Vaccination clinic. While in service to the Department of Health, I was tasked with a number of responsibilities that included assisting the elderly and/or those immobile to get vaccinated. There was a woman who brought her parents in and she would assist her father in a wheelchair while I assisted her mother. While going up the ramp to the entrance, I along with others asked the elderly woman to rest her feet on the footholders when placing it to which she continually rested her foot on the ground ignoring the instructions. We went in regardless. Although she did not talk and made no sound, her daughter checked on her and told her she’s here saying her name possibly attributed to her expressions. Her daughter told me afterwards that she has Alzheimer’s. As I am still learning more about this disease, that day really gave me a new perspective to the disease and their forms stemming from dementia. That was not the only time I would see patients sharing that woman’s condition as well as the stigma associated around it attributed to the reaction by my colleagues as some tend to complain about the elderly not following instructions.

Oftentimes we are reminded that a lot of the times we see our parents or grandparents working even

when we believe they should retire is to keep them busy. There’s that fear of having nothing to do that could lead to cognitive decline which is the overall basis. A few observations to note. The average retirement age in the United States is in the mid-60s. Life expectancy is in the latter part of the 70s. On average, someone with Alzheimer’s lives up to 4–8 years later after the diagnosis. As the CDC reported, it is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. Cognitive decline seems to be inevitable with aging which means Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are closer to our doorstep than we would like to believe judging by the extent in our approach. Researchers from the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London in the UK have warned cognitive decline can begin as early as 45 years old. It’s also noted that Alzheimer’s can begin between a person’s 30s and 60s which backs what the researchers found. With that being said, your health is one project you should not procrastinate on.