Preventing Alzheimer's Disease: Five Things You Can Do Right Now to Stop Alzheimer's

Double Whammy:
one cup of green tea each day can help
fight against getting Alzheimer's Disease
in two ways.
pix: Public Domain Photos

This weekend, a friend of mine talked with me for a long time about how hard it was to watch a friend of hers suffer from Alzheimer's Disease, and now that the disease had progressed to a certain point, her friend's husband was forced to face the fact that his wife would be safer in a 24/7 nursing facility than at home with him.

So this Saturday, my friend supported her two friends, this husband and wife, as they separated after living together for many, many years.  She'll sleep near nurses who can lift her.  He'll make his morning coffee for himself.

My friend cried and cried after leaving them.  Alone in her car.  It's something with which we can all empathize.

Avoiding Alzheimer's Disease: Can We Do It?  It's Worth a Try, Right?

Perhaps a failing brain is something that some of us must face because it's in our genes.  It's a tragic destiny that cannot be avoided.  Maybe.

However, many argue that there are ways to stop Alzheimer's Disease - or at least delay it.  In fact, more and more research is being done on ways to prevent this horrific disease, fueled in no small part due to the aging Baby Boomer generation and the skyrocketing care costs that the American economy will face if a cure or prevention isn't found. 

Is this a global threat?  Not really.  In India, for example, Alzheimer's Disease is rarely seen.  Many believe this is because turmeric is the national spice of India -- as prevalent as salt or black pepper is here in the United States. 

Five Ways to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease - Supported by Research Studies, Easy to Implement

You aren't doomed.  There are a great many easy things that you can do right now - things that research studies have confirmed, that will fight against Alzheimer's Disease in your future, including: 

1.  Caffeine.  I've already written about the studies on one cup of coffee each day.  Really, it's a daily dose of caffeine that is key here. 

2.  Red Wine. There's also a post about having one glass of red wine every week.  Seems research shows that this will cut the chance of dementia in women by 70%.  That's a big deal, and so easy to do, right? 

3.  Exercise.  A little bit of exercise will fight against dementia in your old age, too.  Fifteen minutes of exercise, just three times a week, will do the trick of lowering your risk by 30%.  That's nothing.  Walking the dog regularly gets you there. 

Other things that you can incorporate into your lifestyle, if you aren't doing this already:

4.   Green Tea.  Every day, drink green tea.  New research is revealing that green tea prevents Alzheimer's disease from developing.  Drink it without the caffeine taken out, and you've also covered the first tip on this list, as well. 

5.   Turmeric.  Eat lots of curry spiced with turmeric.  (Or tons of yellow mustard -- turmeric is what makes hot dog mustard so yellow.) Seems this yellow spice contains a chemical that may block a necessary component of Alzheimer's Disease -- studies continue to be done here, based in part upon the reality that India has 400 times less incidence of Alzheimer's disease than the United States.  You can check out the top 20 recipes using turmeric at AllRecipes.com, or maybe take it in a pill form. 

There's still more.  At the Alzheimer's Research & Prevention Foundation, they offer a three pillar fight against getting this terrible disease (their fourth pillar, medicines, deals with treatment after onset):

• Pillar One: Diet and Supplements (Vitamin C is really important but there's much more here)
• Pillar Two: Stress Management (One more example of how simplifying your life is smart)
• Pillar Three: Exercising Your Body and Your Brain (Fun stuff here, including one type of Yoga).

Doctor Mark Hyman Decries Conventional Medicine in HuffPo: The Rising Awareness of Lifestyle Medicine

Dr. Mark Hyman (M.D.) practices medicine and writes bestselling books (he's made the New York Times Bestsellers list four times so far). Dr. Hyman also founded The Ultra Wellness Center, and is considered to be a world-wide leader in "functional medicine" - so when he writes an article for the Huffington Post (the top blog in the country per Technorati), people pay attention. 

The article is entitled, "Millions Die Due to Withheld Medical Treatment" and if you can't read it at the link (it will be archived at some point), feel free to check Dr. Hyman's website or contact me -- I've saved a copy in OneNote because I don't want to lose it.)

Practicing Physician Claims Conventional Medicine Corrupted by Greed

You should, too.  Why?  Because Dr. Hyman is standing up against a huge contingent of his peers when he writes that conventional medicine today is corrupt: that by its co-dependence upon the big pharmaceutical companies, the true cures for such major diseases as diabetes and heart disease lies in lifestyle medicine. 

What is Lifestyle Medicine?

Since lifestyle medicine isn't as profitable as conventional methods, it's being ignored according to Dr. Hyman and the result is akin to the Tuskegee Experiments of the 1920s (and if you don't know about this  horror, it's worth your time to stop and read what Dr. Hyman's written - just to learn about this).  

Dr. Hyman's providing lots of information on the web to help people - his website is great, so is the UltraWellness Center.  For example, check out his free series of articles online, "7 Keys to Ultrawellness."  Great stuff in here. 

Lifestyle Medicine Incorporates Simple Living.  Wow. 

Dr. Hyman promotes many of the things that simplifiers value.  Things like eating whole, fresh, organic foods.  Foods that you cook yourself in ovens and on stovetops.  Avoiding bad stuff like high fructose corn syrup and mercury.  Exercising.  Getting enough rest.  Avoiding stress.  Drinking lots of good water.  Taking vitamins. Taking herbs, too. Understanding detoxification. (Did you know that internalized stress can make you fat? Wow.) 

Want to Learn More About Lifestyle Medicine?

To learn more, check out his personal site or Dr. Hyman's UltraWellness website (where he offers a free ebook and lotsa free videos), follow him on Twitter (http://twitter.com/markhymanmd), or surf around for "lifestyle medicine" where you'll find good sites to learn from, including: 

American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Harvard Medical School's Lifestyle Medicine Institute
The Institute of Lifestyle Medicine

Daily Dose of Caffeine May Cure Alzheimer's

Here's an article for you: Daily Dose of Caffeine May Cure Alzheimers, Scientists Find.

And while this is good news if you're wanting reasons to justify your Starbucks purchases, it's not so good for your previous dedication to that daily glass of red wine. Oh well.

Heck, maybe it's better to be safe rather than sorry. Coffee AND wine? Problem solved.

Health Tests - Check 4 Yourself

At HealthCheck USA, you can have a variety of medical tests run for yourself, bypassing your doctor's office (and that expense). Many people do this periodically, as a general check on their physical health.

HealthCheck gives information with the lab results, as well as providing a physician's service to answer any additional questions. And, of course, if anything unusual pops up, you can (and should) take the test results to your physician. As an added convenience, you can get your results online, and print them out. No prescription is necessary.

You can check for diabetes ($25), as well as your cholesterol levels ($37), and if you're pregnant ($93). There's an entire series of tests for heart health that are combined under the name Gabe Merkin, which is offered in conjunction with Dr. Merkin's bestselling book, The Healthy Heart Muscle, for those who are following his program.

They offer other test combinations, as well (men's health; women's health; cancer screenings; etc). DNA testing is even available, to screen for possible genetic illnesses (such as Celiac disease or Hemochromatosis).

There are too many tests to mention, the complete list is shown at their site.

Personal note: I learned about this company, which started in San Antonio, when the local grocery chain, HEB Foods, offered their services in the store pharmacies. This was a couple of years back and I signed up for a basic batch of tests. The cost was reasonable, and now I have a baseline to check my health against periodically. The cost was reasonable, the convenience was great, and the same lab was used as the one my doctor prefers.

Exercise Stops Alzheimer's Disease

Evidence is mounting that exercise prevents Alzheimer's as well as other types of senile dementia. In a recent study, healthy seniors exercising for fifteen minutes, three times a week, lowered their Alzheimer's risk by as much as 30 percent.

Reports USA Today, quoting Eric Larson, the study's lead researcher:

"The study, published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that even a short, brisk walk every day might ward off the disease.

"'We don't know if exercise makes the disease go away,' Larson says, and the study doesn't provide direct proof that exercise will ward off dementia. Still, 'this is the best evidence you're going to get short of a clinical trial,' Larson says. To get hard proof, researchers will need to assign people to an exercise group or a control group and then keep track of them for many years."

Source: USA Today article appearing on January 17, 2006, written by Kathleen Fackelmann.