Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month is the perfect time to take charge of your brain health. It’s not an easy subject but learning the differences between normal “senior moments” and early signs of Alzheimer’s disease is very important. Early awareness can maximize one of your most valuable resources in maintaining brain health: Time.
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition associated with a buildup of plaques and tangles in the brain, along with cell death, causing memory loss and cognitive decline. The statistics are grim. 10% of 65-year-olds, 25% of 75-year-olds and 50% of 85-year-olds develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is now the seventh leading cause of death and the most common form of dementia.
Dementia is a brain disease that may affect cognitive function, language, attention, memory, personality, and abstract reasoning. There is currently no cure, but drugs and other treatments can help slow or ease the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural symptoms. Current medications at best delay progression of disease.
For so long we have believed that Alzheimer’s diagnosis was a death sentence, especially when one was found to carry certain genes. We now know that genes don’t dictate our destiny but rather a predisposition. So, while you can’t change your genes, you can change your gene expression.
The earlier you identify signs of Alzheimer’s disease, the sooner you and your loved ones can act. The benefit of time can allow you to make healthy lifestyle changes that could help manage and delay the onset or progression of symptoms. The 10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s are:
- Memory loss that disrupts daily life
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks
- Confusion with time or place
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
- New problems with words in speaking or writing
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
- Decreased or poor judgment
- Withdrawal from work or social activities
- Chanes in mood or personality
Some unavoidable risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease include aging, having a family history of Alzheimer’s disease, or carrying certain genes. Other factors that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s include severe or repeated traumatic brain injuries, type 2 diabetes, and having exposure to some environmental contaminants, such as toxic metals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals.
Cognitive decline and memory loss can be prevented and even reversed. We must optimize brain function by utilizing tools like the Bredesen Protocol for reversal of cognitive decline or Dr. Daniel Amen’s Memory Rescue or participate in the Creating an Ultramind Program. Modifiable factors that may help prevent or reverse Alzheimer’s disease include:
- Get regular exercise
- Get deep restful sleep
- Follow a varied and healthful diet to optimize nutrition
- Maintain a healthy cardiovascular system
- Manage your risk of diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure
- Keep the brain active throughout life
- Balance your hormones
- Cool off inflammation
- Fix your gut
- Enhance detoxification
- Boost your mitochondria
- Calm your mind
While conventional medicine continues its research for a drug to cure Alzheimer’s disease, many practitioners are not as informed about lifestyle changes, natural remedies like nutrients and herbs, and natural therapies that already show promise to help prevent, slow, and even reverse mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
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