Researchers believe the association between navigation-heavy work and lower Alzheimer’s risk centers on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that governs memory and spatial navigation. It’s one of the first brain regions that Alzheimer’s damages: Problems with spatial navigation and orientation are among the earliest signs of the disease, sometimes surfacing before obvious memory loss.
1: Dementia related deaths also count things like falls, wandering into traffic, or poisoning yourself from the loss of faculties.
2: Yes, Alzheimer’s causes physical brain damage. In late stages this interferes with organ function and can cause failures.
3: The most common cause of death is actually pneumonia because the loss of motor functions leads to patients aspirating food particles.