Research into modifiable lifestyle factors has changed our thinking about Alzheimer’s. It is no longer seen as an untreatable and almost inevitable part of the aging process. It is now seen as potentially preventable. The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association have recently stressed what they call the preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s. These findings of the presymptomatic period of Alzheimer’s have opened some exciting new horizons concerning prevention of the most dreaded disease we know. Yet most people do not realize that the risk of Alzheimer’s can be reduced.
New ways to study the brain are being employed to evaluate the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s. We can see and follow changes in the brain long before there are any symptoms. There is a lot of excitement about being able to diagnose the disease even before signs begin to show, because if there are any future therapies that are developed, Alzheimer’s can be attacked before symptoms occur. We could begin medication before symptoms arrive, but the problem lies in the fact that there are no known drugs that can treat the process by preventing it or even slowing it down. Even though drug research is ongoing, there still is no treatment or cure.
The one misconception you must pay special attention to right now is that there is nothing you can do to help prevent Alzheimer’s or to slow down the process. The truth is that how you live has a significant effect on the course of Alzheimer’s. Some factors increase your chances of developing Alzheimer’s. Some factors decrease your chances of developing Alzheimer’s. Always remember: the course you are on determines your destination.
The next five chapters focus on the risk factors that increase your chances of developing Alzheimer’s.
I believe you will eat differently because you learned that certain foods increase your chances of developing Alzheimer’s and eating other foods reduces your chances.
I think you will look at exercise in a completely different light. Only one in four people over fifty exercise, and most people do not realize that physical activity can affect Alzheimer’s as well as heart disease and even some cancers.
The more you realize how being overweight and obese affects your brain, the more you will consider the impact your lifestyle has on your future, as well as that of your spouse and children. Lifestyle is a hundredfold more significant than any medicine in the case of Alzheimer’s.
An article in the journal Neurology discussed these risk factors. Researchers studied individuals who had Alzheimer’s and found that 93 percent of them had at least one risk factor, and these risk factors are preventable. Even if the patients had symptoms, if their risk factors were corrected, there was a slower progression of the disease and reasoning loss. This study showed it is never too late to aggressively defeat the factors that cause the disease to progress.
The vascular risk factors that have a detrimental effect on the health of the arteries are also the risk factors for Alzheimer’s. They all affect the arteries that supply blood to the brain, therefore affecting whether the brain is receiving the essentials it needs to carry on normal mental function.
The five factors that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s are:
Each of these factors enhances your chances of developing Alzheimer’s, but the more of these risk factors you have, the greater your risk of developing Alzheimer’s and the stronger your motivation should be to make changes in how you live.
The Process Is Irreversible; Prevention Is Crucial
Finding a cure for Alzheimer’s won’t happen, because once brain cells die, they cannot be brought back to life. New cells may form, but the disease out-fights the number of new soldiers and wins the battle. The plaques and tangles—the hallmark of Alzheimer’s—cause irreparable damage, and neurons perish. Nothing can bring brain cells back.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease. Similar to when Mrs. Dell was diagnosed many years ago, there is still no medicine that can prevent or halt the inevitable declining process. Imprint on your mind one major fact that every doctor who treats with medicine and every surgeon who operates on disease knows: it is much more important to prevent than to treat.
I operated on lung cancer and arteries my entire surgical career. I took lung cancers out of men and women who had spouses and children and grandchildren who depended on them. Most smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for many years. The overwhelming majority wished they had never smoked. In hindsight, most said, “If only I had known.” Had they known, they never would have smoked. They would have done anything to prevent their cancer. Think about their examples as you consider Alzheimer’s. Think about what you can do to lower your chances of developing it. Even if there is some medication that proves helpful in the future, just realize that once a cell dies, the symptoms can’t be reversed. Medicine will never be as good as prevention. Learn and do all you can to make your risk as low as possible.