Preventing Alzheimer's    

Can we prevent Alzheimer's disease?

Just as there is no cure, no magic bullet exists to prevent Alzheimer's disease. On the other hand, there is compelling evidence that we can do certain things to delay the onset of the disease and even slow its progression. If we follow enough of this advice, we might be able to avoid it altogether.

It is becoming evident that lifestyle plays a big role in many diseases. What we eat, where we live, what we do with our leisure time: all of these are now known to play a very significant role in how likely we are to get cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other of our most feared diseases. The same is true of for preventing Alzheimer's. Our genetics may be a big factor in whether or not we will eventually be affected by it, but our lifestyle and other environmental factors, factors we can control, are also contributors. There is less evidence in the professional literature that these steps will prevent dementia, but environment and lifestyle are probably factors in almost all forms of dementia.

Steps in Alzheimer's prevention

Eat Healthy

Obviously, right? More and more, diet is understood to be the most important element in everything health related. To optimize good health and minimize bad health we look first to our diet. And the diet that will most likely keep Alzheimer's away is, essentially, the same as the one that will keep your heart healthy, your cholesterol level down, cancer at bay, and your glucose levels in balance.

General dietary recommendations to improve anyone's health:

• Water – Any healthy diet should begin with pure and clean water. Tap water generally contains undesirable elements, and bottled water is unregulated and usually bottled in plastic. Filtered water is generally best. Water filters are available in a broad price range – and range of effectiveness.
• Whole Foods – Processed foods, like white sugar and flour, are responsible for many health problems. Eat whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Organically grown is best, since these foods will not contain pesticides and other chemicals found in food, and are generally more nutritious.
• Minimally Processed Foods – In general, the more processing a food undergoes, and the more that is added to it, the less healthy it will be. Look particularly for sugars (sugar, sucrose, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup), hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils, and ingredients you're not sure how to pronounce. Also minimize or eliminate junk food including fast foods. Even the "healthy" foods at fast food restaurants is not all that healthy. It is nearly impossible to eliminate all processing, all junk, but the less of this stuff we eat, the healthier we will all be.
• Vitamins and Supplements – Dietary supplements are unnecessary if you maintain a good diet. Of course, but that is one big "IF." A good diet, a proper diet, is almost impossible given the food supply chain that we have to contend with. If you choose to supplement your diet, look for natural ingredients, and steer clear of inexpensive products. This is one case in which cheaper is definitely more expensive.
• Avoid Practices and Substances that Rob Nutrients
• Stress – physical, emotional, mental
• Rich and fatty foods
• Refined foods
• Intoxicants, including caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco
• Chemical additives
And remember what your mother told you; don't hurry and chew your food well. Don't overeat or eat late at night.
• Eat Locally –Whenever possible, eat foods that were grown or produced in your geographical region. There are real health as well as economic benefits to this.
• Avoid Aluminum –Allthough there is no proven connection, it has long been suspected that aluminum contributes to Alzheimer's disease.

In addition, there are several specific dietary recommendations for Alzheimer's prevention:

• Antioxidants – Get as much of this as you can by eating fresh, whole vegetables and fruits, and from quality juices. Supplements should be from natural sources.
• Cold Water Fish and Fish Oil –Recommended are cod, salmon and flounder. Larger fish at the top of the food chain, like shark, swordfish, and even tuna tend to have higher levels of mercury, so eat those very sparingly.
• Folate – A water soluble B Vitamin, folate occurs naturally in micro-algae, sprouts, lettuce and leafy vegetables, asparagus, whole wheat, legumes and nuts, melons, strawberries, as well as in other fruits and vegetables. Folic acid, the synthetic form of folate, is used to fortify breads and cereals.
• Green Tea and Black Tea – Both are high in antioxidants and contain a compound, EGCG, shown to decrease production of the protein responsible for forming the plaques seen in the brain of people with Alzheimer's. Studies used doses far higher than what you would get in a cup of brewed tea. EGCG is also thought to prevent some forms of cancer, so unless you really don't like tea you should keep plenty of these varieties around.
• Mediterranean Diet – The typical diet from most areas around the Mediterranean sea contain an abundance of the ingredients and foods listed above. And a little red wine. A review of a dozen studies that investigated the effects of the Mediterranean diet found health benefits including a 13% reduction in Alzheimer's disease.
• Turmeric – A growing body of evidence links turmeric, one of the main spices in curry, to a lower incidence of dementia. There are also laboratory studies that show curcumin, an ingredient in turmeric, blocks the formation of the amyloid plaques that are so closely associated with Alzheimer's disease.
• Apple Juice – Recent evidence has found that apple juice improves cognition and can delay the onset of, and may even work to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Exercise Your Body

Another no brainer! Diet and Exercise. The mantra of the fit generation. Diet and exercise may be our strongest defense against Alzheimer's disease and dementia. And it doesn't matter when you start. That is, whenever you start exercising and eating right you will begin begin preventing Alzheimer's, or at least you'll begin decreasing your chances of getting it. So start today.

A report from The Mayo Clinic that summarizes several recent studies concludes that exercise might be our best bet to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Don't forget to protect your body while getting it into shape. Head trauma can eventually lead to a form of dementia. Broken bones and bruises are no fun either. Wear a helmet while cycling, rollerblading, skiing, or doing any other activity that could risk head injuries.

Exercise Your Brain

The Einstein Aging Study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, concluded that participation in leisure activities led to a lower incidence of all types of dementia, including Alzheimer's. For this study, leisure activities were reading, writing for pleasure, playing board or card games, playing musical instruments, and participating in group discussions. Subjects who participated in this type of activity one day each week had a 7% reduction in dementia risk. The risk was further reduced with increased activity, to 63% for people who participated 11 times per week.

The Einstein Study is part of a growing body of evidence that a brain workout will improve brain functioning in the same way that a physical workout will improve muscle and cardiovascular functioning. Memory loss, one of the best known and most feared signs of aging, can be reversed or at least slowed by playing a musical instrument, working crossword and Sudoku puzzles, playing chess, and otherwise using and "stretching" our brain.

The connection between mental calisthenics and reduced dementia is not proven, but there is a good amount of indirect and inferential evidence that this is indeed the case. For example, higher levels of education and more mentally demanding occupations correspond to lower levels of dementia.

Even if you didn't go to college, or your occupation was not so demanding intellectually, don't despair. It's not the level of education or the occupation per se that is responsible for the brain health. You could have dropped out of high school and worked 45 years digging ditches, and spent all your free time at museums and reading and otherwise expanding your intellect, and be as well off as the college professor or lawyer. Maybe better! Digging ditches is physical exercise, and that counts for a lot (see above).

And if you haven't done those things that keep your brain sharp, start now. An industry is growing up around baby boomers fear of aging and the impending Alzheimer's epidemic. Inspired by findings like those above, several companies, including Nintendo, are marketing devises designed to exercise our gray matter. But you don't need to spend a lot of money for gadgets or software. A book of puzzles, an interesting discussion, a thought provoking book, and interesting discussion about a thought provoking book; these things too benefit your brain.

Socialize Often

And speaking of discussion, spending time with friends, staying socially connected, has been shown repeatedly to improve memory and keep the brain elastic and healthy. The connection between social interaction and lowered rates of Alzheimer's disease and dementia has not yet been made convincingly, but it is one that is being investigated more and more.

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There is a common thread that runs through the suggestions and prescriptions above. All, or almost all, revert to lifestyles and practices that were more prevalent at some time in our past; they propound a simpler, more natural lifestyle. We are all exposed to increasing amounts of environmental contaminants and pollutants. It's a price we pay for living in an industrial society; we pay, unfortunately, with our health. The fact that the incidence of Alzheimer's disease is increasing dramatically, as is the incidence of most other health problems, reinforces this position that a return to this more natural lifestyle is a very good thing. This is not an easy thing to do, but it is certainly a worthwhile thing to attempt.