From the Blog

Alzheimer’s Prevention

Alzheimer’s prevention is a hot topic. This should come as no surprise since surveys have shown that there is something that Americans fear more than death.

It is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

For most of us, losing our personhood – those characteristics which make us who we are – is a fate worse than death.

What is Alzheimer’s?

Named after Alois Alzheimer, who discovered the condition in 1906, Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects the function of the brain by causing the brain cells to degenerate and then die.  There is no cure, and the progression of the disease leads to eventual death.  There are factors that affect your likelihood of suffering from Alzheimer’s, such as your age, gender, family history, ethnicity, and ancestry, and your health and nutrition. Some of these are obviously beyond your control but not all.

The first Alzheimer’s symptoms usually show up as forgetfulness, but as it worsens, more long-term memory loss occurs, along with others such as mood swings, irritability and the inability to recognize languages.

alzheimers

How Prevalent is Alzheimer’s?

Alzheimer’s affects more than 5 million Americans, and it is predicted that by 2050, 1 in 8 Americans will be stricken with it.  The Medicare system spends three times as much money on Alzheimer’s treatment as it does on any other disease.

Is Alzheimer’s Inevitable?

The good news is there are steps you can take toward Alzheimer’s prevention. Because of the prevalence of this disease in our country, many people view it as a normal and inevitable part of the aging process.  But this is not so.  Alzheimer’s is a disease, and you do not have to get sick with this disease.

In fact, in spite of it being so common in America, there are societies in which dementia and Alzheimer’s is rare, even for people in their 90s and beyond.  The elders in these cultures maintain clear thinking without the burden of dementia that we have come to associate with aging.

Preventing Alzheimer’s

Following are some steps you can take right now to protect yourself from getting Alzheimer’s.

1.   Get plenty of physical exercise

In his book, Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World’s Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples, John Robbins cites study after study that demonstrate the stunning effect of exercise on the brain’s ability to function well, even at advanced ages.

In one such study, documented in the Archives of Neurology (March 2001), it was found that the people with the highest activity levels were only half as likely as inactive people to develop Alzheimer’s.  Further, these active people were also substantially less likely to develop any form of dementia or impairment in mental functioning.

In another study1, some mice were bred to develop the type of plaque that is associated with Alzheimer’s in their brains.  Some of the mice were allowed to exercise and some were not.

Two important findings emerged. 

  1. The mice who exercised developed 50-80 % less plaque in their brains that the non-exercising mice developed.
  2. The exercising mice produced more of the enzyme that prevents the buildup of plaque in the brain.

Additionally, a 2020 study2 from the University of Sydney found that six months of lifting weights can help protect brain areas especially vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease up to one year later.

“This is the first time any intervention, medical or lifestyle, has been able to slow and even halt degeneration in brain areas particularly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease over such a long time. Given this was also linked to protection from cognitive decline, the message is clear: resistance exercise needs to become a standard part of dementia risk-reduction strategies,” said Professor Valenzuela, from the Sydney Medical School in the Faculty of Medicine and Health.

The takeaway conclusion? The people who exercise more are much less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or any other kind of dementia.

2.  Eat a healthy diet

Exercise is not the only thing that can reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease.  Diet also plays a crucial role.  The best diet for preventing dementia is one low in animal-derived foods but high in plant foods such as

Scientists think that the protection these foods offer against dementia stems from their high concentration of anti-oxidants.  Antioxidants neutralize free radicals which are responsible for the damage that causes dementia.

A healthy diet also helps you avoid other health problems such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and arteriosclerosis.

Several studies have reported that creatine monohydrate helps with cognitive enhancement, in addition to enhancing performance, boosting strength, speeding up recovery, and supporting lean muscle. Now creatine is even more beneficial for aging adults as it helps your body and your mind.

In another study cited by Robbins, researchers found that persons who are obese in middle age are twice as likely to develop dementia in their later years as those people who had normal weights.  Further, if these people also have high cholesterol and high blood pressure, their risk for dementia in old age escalates to six times higher than normal weight people!

What are you waiting for?

Remember, there is no cure. Once Alzheimer’s symptoms start showing up it is too late.  Start now to defend yourself: get moving and eat a clean, healthy diet.  You will reap the benefits literally for years to come!

1http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers/MY00002
2https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102182