Alzheimers Prevention

Well, actually, there is still no known way to prevent Alzheimer's Disease, but increasingly there is thought that there may be ways to reduce risk. Today's Vancouver Sun had a front page article which describes these. Basically, they boil down to what we have been told for many years about maintaining health in general:

1. Proper Nutrition
2. Excercise
3. Social Interaction

These are what I listed in my book, " Nursing Homes: The Family's Journey (Johns Hopkis University Press)." I wrote it a few years ago, before people were saying these things may reduce risk of Alzheimer's so it is nice to have it confirmed.

What I didn't write, and which is being emphasized these days is, or fucssed on, is mental stimulation--doing those things that exercise different parts of the brain. This means, not just memory, but activities that encourage problem solving, such as crosswords, soduku, and others. It could be discussions that focus on problem solving, reasoning, or planning. Alzheimers does not just affect memory, it affects those things aslo--what are called executive functioning skills of the brain.

Also, remember about dementia--Alzheimer's Disease is only one kind of dementia. There are other diseases which cause dementia. The major ones for this are Parkinson's Disease and Stroke. Interestingly, atleast two of the things that are thought to prevent Alzheimer's are the ones thought to prevent stroke and heart disease--exercise and nutrition.

Ac tually, when we think about it, they are the key factors for non drug prevention strategies for a gazillion conditions and problems, including:

--constipation
--high blood pressure and cholesterol
--diabetes
--depression
--ungrateful children

So eat an apple and go for a walk.

Happy New Year