Some things you should remember about Alzheimer's

Friends tell me of funny incidents that happen in their lives because of forgetfulness. One friend recalls buying the supplement gingko biloba to enhance her memory but forgot to take it. Her husband adds, “She even forgot where she put the bottle.” 

Sometimes forgetfulness could be dangerous. Like when you call your husband by the name of an ex-boyfriend.   Or you take the same medicine twice and wonder why you feel woozy. 

As we age, we notice that our memory is not as sharp as it used to be. We tend to repeat our stories, we repeat instructions to our helpers, we forget names of people close to us and important occasions like birthdays of close family members and close friends. One close friend kept us in stitches during a gathering as he unabashedly regaled us with stories of his senior moments. A classic case: To remember to greet his secretary on her birthday, he tied a ribbon around his finger before leaving his house for his office as his reminder. When he got to his office, he was wondering what the ribbon was doing around his finger. Hahaha!

Fear of dementia or Alzheimer’s starts to bother you.  Just forget about your fears. Start to be vigilant about training your mind on how to improve your memory.

Recently, I read a report that was very encouraging to the aging memory. Read this:

The UCLA Center on aging is going big on its research on Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Gary Small, director of the Center, says, “The idea that Alzheimer’s is entirely genetic and unpreventable is perhaps the greatest misconception about the disease.  Researchers now know that Alzheimer’s, like heart disease and cancer, develops over decades and can be influenced by lifestyle factors including cholesterol, blood pressure, obesity, depression, education, nutrition, sleep, and mental, physical, and social activity.”

The big news is that tons of research reveal that simple things you do every day might cut your odds of losing your mind to Alzheimer’s.  When medical journalist Jean Carper discovered she carried a gene that made her particularly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s, this acted as a wake-up call. She went on a worldwide research about the disease to try to identify what might prevent it. She came up with the book 100 Simple Things you Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s and Age Related Memory Loss which summarizes her findings. Much of what we can do to reduce the risk of cancer, stroke, heart attack, and increase the number of years of healthy life also reduces the risk and effects of Alzheimer’s, according to Carper.  Here are some surprising strategies:

• Have coffee. In an amazing flip-flop, coffee is the new brain tonic.  A large European study showed that drinking three to four cups of coffee a day in midlife cut Alzheimer’s risk 65 percent in late life.  University of South Florida researcher Gary Arendash says caffeine reduces dementia-causing amyloid in animal brains. Others credit coffee’s antioxidants. So drink up, unless your doctor says you shouldn’t. The other 3Cs, which are said to have potential value in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s are cinnamon, cocoa (dark chocolate), and curcumin (the main ingredient in turmeric), used to make curries.

• Floss. Oddly, the health of your teeth and gums can help predict dementia. University of Southern California research found that having periodontal disease before age 35 quadrupled the odds of dementia years later. Older people with tooth and gum disease score lower on memory and cognition tests, other studies show. Experts speculate that inflammation in diseased mouths migrates to the brain.

• Google. Doing an online search can stimulate your aging brain even more than reading a book, says Dr. Gary Small who used brain MRIs to prove it.  The biggest surprise: Novice Internet surfers, ages 55 to 78, activated key memory and learning centers in the brain after only a week of Web surfing for an hour a day.

• Grow new brain cells. Impossible, scientists used to say. Now it is believed that thousands of brain cells are born daily. The trick is to keep the newborns alive! What works are: aerobic exercise, (such as brisk walking 30 minutes a day), strenuous mental activity (such as learning a new language, learning how to dance, play a musical instrument or learning anything new that requires memory work), eating salmon and other fatty fish, and avoiding obesity, chronic stress, sleep deprivation, heavy drinking, and vitamin B deficiency.

• Drink apple juice. Apple juice can push production of the memory chemical acetylcholine. That is the way the popular drug Aricept works, says Thomas Shea, PhD of the University of Massachusetts. He was surprised that old mice given apple juice did better on learning and memory tests than mice that received water.  A dose for humans: 16 ounces or two to three apples a day. (Apples are heavily sprayed so go for organic juice.)

• Protect your head. Blows to the head, even mild ones, early in life increase the odds of dementia years later. Pro football players have 19 times the typical rate of memory-related diseases. Alzheimer’s is four times more common in the elderly who suffer a head injury, Columbia University finds. Accidental falls double an older person’s odds of dementia five years later, says another study. Wear seat belts and helmets, fall-proof your house, and don’t take risks.

• Meditate. Brain scans show that people who meditate regularly have less cognitive decline and brain shrinkage — a classic sign of Alzheimer’s — as they age. Andrew Newberg of The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine says yoga meditation of 12 minutes a day for two months improved blood flow and cognitive functioning in seniors with memory problems.

• Follow a good diet. Eat foods rich in antioxidants, (fruit, vegetables, a Mediterranean Diet filled with olive oil and red wine). Choline-rich foods like eggs, wheat germ, peanuts, cauliflower, and nuts, leafy vegetables like spinach, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli), and fish rich in omega-3 like salmon and tuna are all recommended while alcohol, fast foods, processed red meat, too much salt, saturated fats and trans fats should all be avoided. 

• Most importantly, stop smoking!

The above is actually what most of us should do in our daily lives. These are simple strategies and if we follow them, we can forget about our fears of having any form of dementia and Alzheimer’s in our old age.

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Sources: Jean Carper, UCLA Center on Aging