>>13037456https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3290680/Increased susceptibility of the aging brain to both chronic stress and incipient dementia-related neuropathology may accelerate cognitive decline.
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/there-link-between-stress-and-dementia-risk'Understanding the role of the immune system in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease is of great importance to researchers. As prolonged stress can cause changes in the immune system, we wanted to find out if this was linked to progression to dementia from mild cognitive impairment.
'Our investigations show that stress does appear to have an effect on progression in mild cognitive impairment. Our preliminary (unpublished) findings are showing that this may be mediated through a fault in the regulation of the immune system in people with mild cognitive impairment but we are continuing to investigate this further.'
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2797-06.2006 Using in vitro and in vivo experiments, we report that stress-level glucocorticoid administration increases A? formation by increasing steady-state levels of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and ?-APP cleaving enzyme. Additionally, glucocorticoids augment tau accumulation, indicating that this hormone also accelerates the development of neurofibrillary tangles. These findings suggest that high levels of glucocorticoids, found in AD, are not merely a consequence of the disease process but rather play a central role in the development and progression of AD.
I assume the career of a neurosurgeon could be quite stressful, as would caring for someone with dementia or Alzheimer's. Also, when dealing with family members, it's quite possible they're consuming similar foods or being exposed to environmental factors that could increase risk of developing the disease. That said, my answer was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I've seen many different claims about what causes Alzheimer's. I suspect there's multiple paths to the disease.
