Healthy Nutrition as the Key to Managing Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease represents an incurable, progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the systematic deterioration of brain structures critical for cognitive processing, ultimately leading to the gradual impairment of memory, rational thought, and executive function. In its initial stages, the condition primarily manifests as deficits in encoding new information—patients frequently forget recent conversations, misplace everyday objects, or struggle to recognize familiar faces and locations. As the disease advances, these impairments deepen, encompassing language disorders (aphasia), spatiotemporal disorientation (agnosia), and fine motor dysfunction (apraxia), thereby rendering independent living unfeasible. Concurrently, personality alterations—such as apathy, anxiety, or even psychotic episodes—emerge due to neuronal degeneration in cortical and subcortical regions, including the hippocampus and temporal lobes. While the etiopathogenesis remains multifaceted, prevailing theories implicate the accumulation of pathological proteins: beta-amyloid peptides (forming senile plaques) and hyperphosphorylated tau proteins (generating neurofibrillary tangles), which collectively trigger synaptic loss and neuronal death. To date, no curative treatment exists; pharmacological interventions (e.g., cholinesterase inhibitors) and non-pharmacological strategies (occupational therapy, cognitive stimulation) focus on decelerating symptom progression and enhancing palliative care. Equally critical is the education of caregivers and psychological support, both of which significantly improve the quality of life for patients and their families (based on research by García-Morales et al., 2021; Alzheimer’s Association, 2023).