In a recent national survey, Baby Boomers were asked which health conditions they feared most. Cancer topped the list, followed closely by Alzheimer’s Disease. And while there is still no cure for Alzheimer’s and many other forms of dementia, there are six lifestyle habits that can significantly cut your risk.

1. Stay Active - Physical exercise is essential for maintaining good blood flow to the brain as well as to promote new brain cells. It also can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes, and which are also risk factors for Alzheimer's and other dementias.

A recent study found that individuals with the highest levels of fitness during middle age were 36% less likely to develop dementia in their senior years.

2. Eat a Brain-Healthy Diet - Research suggests that high cholesterol may contribute to stroke and brain cell damage. A low fat, low cholesterol diet is advisable. And there is growing evidence that a diet rich in dark vegetables and fruits, which contain antioxidants, may help protect brain cells.

3. Stay Mentally Active - Engaging in mentally stimulating activities – like fixing a puzzle or learning a new skill or language – helps strengthen brain cells and the connections between them, and may even create new nerve cells.

4. Get a Good Night’s Sleep – Sleep disorders including insomnia and sleep apnea have been associated with memory loss and dementia. If you wake frequently or do not feel rested upon waking, you may need to have the problem evaluated by a sleep specialist.

5. Reduce Stress – Chronic stress has been linked to higher levels of damaging buildup of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tau protein, which is seen in Alzheimer’s and in other forms of dementia.

A Swedish study found that the risk of dementia was about 65% higher in women who reported repeated periods of stress in middle age than in those who did not.

6. Be Social - Social activity not only makes physical and mental activity more enjoyable, it can reduce stress levels, which helps maintain healthy connections among brain cells.

For more on supporting your brain health, read:

• Key Nutrients Linked to Brain Health
• Physical Exercise May Trump Mental Exercise for Brain Health
• Memory Food: The Many Ways to Protect Your Brain

Sources:

MedPage Today

The Examiner

Alzheimer’s Association

The Journal of Neuroscience

American Scientist

In three separate studies researchers came to a similar conclusion: a change in walking ability as you age may by a sign of oncoming mental decline. Specifically, declines in mental skills, including losses in memory and decision making skill, were associated with a slowed walking pace and shortening of a person’s stride.

This research may help families and clinicians spot early signs of dementia so that treatment can begin sooner, and the decline hopefully slowed.

Study Details

In one four-year study, Swiss researchers compared the walking ability of nearly 1,200 elderly people who were outpatients in a memory clinic to the walking ability of healthy people.

Analysis of the data revealed that a slowed pace and a change in gait was linked to progression of mental decline ranging from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease.

The more advance the mental decline, the slower the pace and the more faltering the stride. So, those with Alzheimer's walked slower than those with MCI, who in turn walked slower than those who were cognitively healthy.

In another study among more than 1,300 patients at the Mayo Clinic, researchers found that tests of both mental and walking skills over a 15-month period also revealed an association between mental skills and a slower, faltering gait.

The third study, conducted in Japan,  involved neurological, psychological and physical tests on 525 men and women aged 75 and older.

They, too, found that as walking abilities declined so did the patients' mental skills. "Gait velocity was significantly decreased as the severity of dementia symptoms increased," said lead researcher Kenichi Meguro.

The bottom line, he said: "Gait should no longer be considered a simple, automatic motor activity that is independent of cognition. They are linked."

For tips on how to support the health of your brain, see Memory Food: The Many Ways to Protect Your Brain

Source:

HealthFinder

Would we be healthier or live longer if we were given more information to prevent debilitating health conditions like stroke or dementia? That’s what a group of researchers in Germany set out to determine with a recent study. What they found confirmed the old adage, “knowledge is power.”

For the study, researchers followed almost 4,000 people aged 55 and older living in a rural community. Their family doctors were given brochures summarizing prevention and treatment recommendations for stroke and dementia. The doctors encouraged patients to:

• Get more exercise
• Eat a healthier diet
• Stop smoking
• Reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels

The team compared outcomes among these patients to another 13,000 people in a nearby town who received care that did not focus on the prevention of these health problems.

Over the course of five years, patients treated by doctors focused on reducing risk factors for stroke and dementia saw their need for expensive long-term care drop by about 10 percent compared to the communities that didn't have this intervention. The cost of inpatient treatment for these patients was also reduced.

The researchers also believe that receiving prevention guidance reduced the number of deaths in the intervention group from the expected 2,112 people to 1,939.

"Primary prevention pays off," said the study’s lead author, Horst Bickel. “We found that not only the risk of long-term care dependence was lower, but also that death rates decreased,” Bickel said. “In addition, the cost of inpatient treatment was reduced in the intervention region.”

"At the population level, even simple measures can lead to substantial achievements," Bickel said. "Our results are only one example of how health risks can be reduced through uncomplicated, routine treatment of risk factors in the framework of a real-world setting."

The study's authors noted their results could be applied to the United States and other Western populations that have sedentary lifestyles.

Source:

American Heart Association

As current medications for Alzheimer’s disease only slow its progression, early diagnosis and treatment are essential if patients are to benefit. However, most people with the condition are diagnosed late in the progression of the disease. According to a report released by Alzheimer's Disease International, failure to detect Alzheimer’s early not only limits treatment, it compounds a host of other problems for patients, families, caregivers, communities and health professionals.

"Failure to diagnose Alzheimer's in a timely manner represents a tragic missed opportunity to improve the quality of life for millions of people," said Dr. Daisy Acosta, chair of Alzheimer's Disease International. "It only adds to an already massive global health, social and fiscal challenge."

One of the biggest problems for patients is getting their condition recognized. "They feel like they are adrift too often, with their loved ones trying to care for them without support," said Robert J. Egge, vice president for public policy and advocacy at the Alzheimer's Association.

According to the report:

• Of the estimated 36 million people with dementia worldwide, 75 percent have not been diagnosed.
• Failure to diagnose is based on the false belief that dementia is a normal part of aging and nothing can be done about it.
• Drugs and psychological treatment can improve cognition, independence and quality of life.
• Governments should spend money on diagnosis and treatment to reduce the costs of care later.

The report recommends that governments:

• Teach physicians and other health care professionals to detect dementia early.
• Create networks of specialist centers to confirm early-stage dementia and enact care plans.
• Publicize interventions that are effective in improving cognitive function, treating depression, improving caregiver mood and delaying institutionalization.
• Spend more money on research.

"What is clear is that every country needs a national dementia strategy that promotes early diagnosis and a continuum of care thereafter. Primary care services, specialist diagnostic and treatment centers and community-based services all have a part to play, but to differing degrees, depending upon resources," said lead report author Dr. Martin Prince.

If you are concerned and think you may have dementia, the researchers recommend that you pursue the diagnosis when you see any of the warning signs and seek out care from professionals. Let them know your concerns and pursue it until you get the answers you need.

Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s, Dementia

The Alzheimers Association lists these “10 Signs of Alzheimer’s.” Every individual may experience one or more of these signs in different degrees.

1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life
2. Challenges in planning a project or solving problems
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure
4. Confusion with time or place
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
6. New problems with words in speaking or writing
7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
8. Decreased or poor judgment
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities
10. Changes in mood or personality

When it comes to preserving brain health, there are many proactive ways to maintain and improve your focus -- no matter what your age. Discover tips to improve memory function with nutrition here.

Sources:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Alzheimer’s Association

Need any more reasons to justify avoiding conventionally grown foods that are often tainted with pesticides to your friends or family? Next time you feel the sarcasm coming on, send those naysayers a link to today's blog item, a French study about the growing risk of dementia linked to long-term exposure to pesticides among vineyard workers in their middle and Baby Boomer years.

Scientists compared the initial results of questionnaires and nine neurobehavioral tests that measured verbal and language skills, reaction times and memory of 1,000 farm workers in 1997-98 to a subset of 600 workers who completed a second round of tests between 2001-03.

Even though scientists blamed lower test scores on old age, depression, drug use, excessive alcohol use and poor education, the link to pesticide exposure was clear. In seven of the nine cognitive exams administered during the second round of testing, patients exposed to pesticides had lower scores. In fact, workers exposed to pesticides were five times more likely to have lower scores on both sets of tests.

The real concern: Patients exposed to pesticides were at twice the risk of experiencing drops of two points in the mini-mental state examination or Folstein test, a 30-point questionnaire used to screen people for dementia.

Researchers were alarmed by the drop in cognitive test scores as a direct result of pesticide exposure, particularly due to the relatively short gap between testing and the young age of farm workers. All the more reason to choose organic whole foods over conventionally grown ones as often as you can.

Occupational and Environmental Medicine November 22, 2010

ScienceDaily December 2, 2010

Yahoo News December 1, 2010

Caregiving can be very tough, especially when you go it alone. And, because our focus is the well-being of our friend or family member, often, we forget to take care of ourselves, to the extent we don't even realize when we really do need to ask for help. Unfortunately, there's a deadly price to pay for ignoring our basic human needs, according to a recent study of spouses who cared for their partners stricken with dementia.

After studying the health of more than 1,200 married couples (age 65 and older) living in Utah over 12 years, scientists discovered spouses of patients who had been previously diagnosed with dementia were six times more likely to succumb to this mind-robbing condition than those without an affected partner.

Even worse, the risk of declining memory was comparable to that of the well-known APOE gene variant, already associated with Alzheimer's disease. (This tracks with earlier, smaller studies that found spouses who served as caregivers demonstrated greater memory issues than those who weren't caregivers.)

Although scientists aren't sure why this link with dementia exists, they believe stress levels have an impact on the brain health of caregivers nonetheless. But you CAN do something about better managing your stress, and my checklist, culled from an number of outstanding sources, can help you.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol. 58, No. 5, pp. 495-500, May 6, 2010

ScienceDaily May 5, 2010

healthfinder.gov May 5, 2010

For many of you who mistakenly believe dementia is a normal part of the aging process, a recent Harvard University study tracking the health of some 320 patients with advanced dementia living in Boston-area nursing homes may make you feel otherwise.

Mortality rates for a condition many folks still believe is typical were stunning: More than half of the participants died over the course of the 18-month study, and 25 percent perished during the first six months. The median survival span for patients was roughly 16 months, comparable to those suffering from terminal cancer.

And, because dementia can be tied to either Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and vascular dementia, during the advanced stages, it's often impossible to target the "real" disease affecting patients, a toxic soup of symptoms.

One neurological expert summed up the problem succinctly for Time.com: "Dementia ends up involving much more than just the brain. We forget the brain does everything for us -- controls the heart, the lungs, the gastrointestinal tract, the metabolism."

New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 361, No. 16, pp. 1595-1596 October 15, 2009

New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 361, No. 16, pp. 1529-1538 October 15, 2009

USA Today October 15, 2009

Time.com October 14, 2009

WebMD October 14, 2009

Many more people are living with Alzheimer's and dementia -- a projected 10 percent increase to more than 35 million worldwide by 2010 -- than experts expected, and the number of patients harmed by this mind-robbing disease is expected to explode by the year 2050, according to the latest World Alzheimer Report released by Alzheimer's Disease International.

Although the report estimates 4.4 million North Americans are harmed by Alzheimer's, the Alzheimer's Association is far less conservative about U.S. estimates, pegging the number of patients affected domestically at more than 5 million. Overall, one out of eight Americans older than age 65 are harmed by Alzheimer's as are almost half of seniors over age 85.

Even more alarming, an estimated 115 million people in the world may be affected by the ravages of Alzheimer's as soon as the year 2050.

New studies assessing the reach of Alzheimer's around the world (nearly 7 million people apiece in Western Europe, and South and Southeastern Asia) prompted the worldwide coalition of some 70 non-profit groups to ask British researchers to rethink their estimates.

One huge problem: Many folks still believe dementia is a normal part of the aging process, not a disease that can be treated.

Alzheimer's Association Free Full PDF Report

USA Today September 21, 2009

MSNBC.com September 21, 2009