RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

Will You Get Alzheimer's?

 

67 out of every 1,000 older Americans have been diagnosed with some form of Alzheimer's. By 2050, more than 26 million people worldwide will be living with Alzheimer's disease.  Will you be one of them?

What can you do now to slow the onset of Alzheimer's or possibly to avoid its devastating  destruction of your brain?

Here are four tips experts believe can help you keep your brain healthy.

 1. Eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and heart-healthy fats

People who do eat the "Mediterranean Diet" have a lower risk of Alzheimer's, according to studies.

This diet also includes Omega-3s, the fats found in fish oils.  Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, came to the conclusion the Omega-3 fatty acids may also  benefit those patients already in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's. Also the Framington Heart Study found possible evidence that high levels of the "good" fish fat may help you actually avoid Alzheimer's, although that is still a theory.

2. Exercise

Housework and yard work may have greater benefits than you think. 

Walking around the block could also help keep your brain  youthful. 

Researchers believe this is because even simple exercise can lower your chance of developing vascular dementia, which is the second most common form of dementia.  That  agrees with a Scottish study's findings that the more physically active a senior is during his later years, the better his memory skills.  Some scientists go even farther stating they believe exercise can actually change the physical structure of the brain.

3. Get social

The American Medical Association's Archives of General Psychiatry reports lonely people may have twice the risk of Alzheimer's.

That's possibly because social isolation, or a limited social life, may cause a person to lose social skills. Because the neural systems which control social behavior may not be exercised, the person's brain may not be able to deal with such diseases as Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.

Getting involved with others also helps you stay connected emotionally which can save you from feelings of isolation and despair.

4. Keep your mind stimulated

People who read, do crossword puzzles, attend adult education classes, or are involved in other mentally stimulating activities seem to be delaying Alzheimer's, according to more studies.

So is it really possible intellectual brain exercise can help your brain fight dementia?

Some scientists think so based on the brain's cognitive reserve.  This is the brain's ability to compensate for the loss of nerve cells often caused by Alzheimer's.

Researchers do not know for sure, but suspect keeping your brain mentally sharp can help establish new brain cell connections. Some scientists state they believe mental exercise can even help you grow new brain cells.

More Alzheimer's research needs to be done, but our knowledge about this terrible disease is increasing daily.  While we anticipate a cure, we can still keep ourselves healthy mentally, physically, and emotionally, which could possibly help us avoid Alzheimer's altogether.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Grow Old with Grace:
  • Digg
  • Technorati
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • TwitThis
  • Live
  • HelloTxt
  • Ping.fm
  • LinkedIn
  • Diigo
  • MySpace
  • FriendFeed
  • Propeller
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Print
  • email
  • PDF
  • RSS


Tags: , , ,

APA Related Posts
  • How to Avoid Many Aches and Pains of Old Age  Is it really possible to cut aging illnesses and injuries  by 50 percent? Can you  stall weakness, sore joints and poor balance by 70 percent? Chris Crowley,70, and Dr. Henry Lodge say you can in their new book, Younger Next Year:A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond. So how do......
  • seniorhandsThe 7 Stages of Alzheimer's Here's an informative article from the Alzheimer's Association on the different stages of Alzheimer's. In the earliest stages it is difficult to determine anything is wrong, according to the article. It is around stages three and four that such warning signals as the person's forgetfulness and lack of basic......
  • Pill for Phobias Bad Memory Pill? Bad memories may be a thing of the past thanks to a new pill that may help you forget all about them. The beta-blocker drugs could help us get over difficult memories such as phobias, etc. If that's true, this is new territory, according to some experts. Some experts are not......
  • Centenarians Number Men Women People  How many centenarians, or people over the age  of 100, are there?  How many people will be celebrating their 100th birthdays in the future?Projected numbers are 125,000 American centenarians in 2011 followed by in increase  of 834,000 to possibly 1 million by 2050.These estimations are based on the American population growing......
  • Your aging parent could improve brain function if he likes to surf on The InternetBrain Function May Improve with Internet Use /caption] Brain function may improve with Internet use, according to a new study. What's more, the study is bringing up the possibility that the Internet may actually be changing brains. Is this possible? Yes, according to Dr. Gary Small, professor of psychiatry at UCLA. As we know, one of the biggest......


APA Related Websites
  • Tennis Racket and Tennis Ball PictureExercise Your Way to Better Blogging It seems to me that you can hardly go one day without hearing health related news. There are new miracle pills developed on a seemingly daily basis, medical reports are published frequently debunking some previous health myth, and it seems as though half of all TV commercials deal with some......
  • 3190155469_905aab7757[1]Beetroot Juice May Help With Exercise Stamina Beetroot juice is now being touted as something that you can use, to maximise your workout in able you to do more than you would have been able to do before. It's being stated that you will be able to do 16 % more than you would normally be able......
  • kids-playTips for Parents with Overweight Children If you have a child that is dealing with weight issues and you find yourself nagging him or her to lose weight, then you may not realize that nagging is not the best way to help them lose weight. You can actually run the risk of straining your relationship with......
  • Does Anything Ever Last ? The Path to Weight Loss In a report done by the Australian Psychological Society, they talk about unknown roots of unhelpful behaviour, which would stop people from losing weight and exercising more and healthy eating also. People do know that that they should eat healthier and exercise more but sometimes change can be very hard......
  • blog traffic exchangeAlkalizing My Body pH - 30 Day Trial I've recently been doing some reading on how the pH of your body affects your health. Based on what I  read, I have decided to do a 30 day trial of alkalizing my body pH to see if it benefits me in how I feel and how I perform on......

Trackback URL

  1. 7 Comment(s)

  2. By Brennan Kingsland on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply

    Love to learn, learn to love! Sounds like a good plan to me.

    Brennan Kingsland's last blog post..Education: Too Many Tests?

  3. By Jon_H on Apr 20, 2008 | Reply

    My father jokingly calls it halfheimer's disease.

    He has had all the warning signs for 10 years but seems to be holding it back by living an active life. Volunteers 5 days a week for Goodwill and participates in church charities the other two days. Always says that living well is the best revenge.

    Jon_H's last blog post..Children Saved from HGH Thieves

  4. By Tonie on May 6, 2008 | Reply

    A lot of people give up with fear but the reality is that the body has an incredible healing system and when we feed it right, exercise regularly, reduce stress and have purpose we can overcome the worst of obstacles.

    Tonie's last blog post..Baby Boomers Are You Safe? A Deficiency In This Vitamin Can Lead To Dementia!

  5. By Tonie on May 16, 2008 | Reply

    If you are obese you have an 80% risk of getting Alzheimer's, frightening

    Tonie's last blog post..5 Risks To Your Immune System!

  6. By Rashad on Feb 13, 2009 | Reply

    So you could check out before you dementia really set in. This is in my family, and I can't stand to see people who were once bright, shining people now only a shell. I think about it a lot when I'm with my dad. I definitely don't want to be like that, and if I had some way of knowing I was going to lose it soon, I would seriously think about leaving on my own terms. Would you?

  7. By admin on Feb 13, 2009 | Reply

    Rashad,
    Dementia is terrible, but I don't think checking out is really the answer.
    New advancements are being made now and I really believe, Lord willing, we will have the answers for unlocking these terrible condition soon in our lifetimes.

  8. By Jim@SEO in SA on Oct 22, 2009 | Reply

    The thought of dementia really scares me. I know some healthy, active, intelligent people who contracted it and the results are devastating.
    Jim@SEO in SA´s last blog ..Comming clean My ComLuv Profile

Post a Comment

CommentLuv Enabled