This photo provided by the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center shows Michael Gendy of King

This photo provided by the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center shows Michael Gendy of King

Five things you can do to protect yourself against Alzheimer’s disease

  • By LAURAN NEERGAARD The Associated Press
  • Saturday, July 25, 2015 9:55am
  • News

By LAURAN NEERGAARD

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest Alzheimer’s research has a clear theme: Change your lifestyle to protect your brain.

It will take several years for scientists to prove whether some experimental drugs could at least delay Alzheimer’s disease, and an aging population is at risk now.

Whatever happens on the drug front, there are generally healthy everyday steps people can take — from better sleep to handling stress to hitting the books — that research suggests just might lower the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Making these lifestyle changes “looks more promising than the drug studies so far,” said Dr. Richard Lipton of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, whose lab researches what makes up healthy aging. The findings on stress prompted Lipton to take up yoga.

Here are five tips to help guard your brain against memory loss, based on research at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference:

GET BETTER SHUT-EYE

Studies of more than 6,000 people linked poor sleep quality — and especially sleep apnea — to early memory problems called mild cognitive impairment, which in turn can raise the risk of later Alzheimer’s. Other research showed poor sleep can spur a brain-clogging protein named amyloid that’s a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

Talk to your doctor if you’re having sleep problems, advises Dr. Kristine Yaffe of the University of California, San Francisco: “Sleep disorders are so common, and we think many are quite treatable.”

EXERCISE YOUR GRAY MATTER

Seniors often are advised to work crossword puzzles, take music lessons or learn a new language to keep the brain engaged. The protective effects of learning may start decades earlier in life.

In Sweden, researchers at the Karolinska Institute unearthed school report cards and work histories of more than 7,000 older adults. Good grades as young as age 10 predicted lower risk of dementia later in life. So did getting a job that required expertise with numbers or, for women, complex interactions with people — occupations such as researchers or teachers.

Why? Learning and complex thinking strengthen connections between nerve cells, building up “cognitive reserve” so that as Alzheimer’s brews, the brain can withstand more damage before symptoms become apparent.

GET MOVING

What’s good for the heart is good for the brain, too, and physical activity counters a list of damaging problems — high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol — that can increase the risk of memory impairment later in life.

Get started early: One study tracked the habits of 3,200 young adults for 25 years, and found those who were the least active had the worst cognition when they were middle-aged. Sedentary behaviors like TV watching played a role. Yaffe — who just had her desk raised so she can spend more time standing — worries about kids’ screen time.

DON’T FORGET MENTAL HEALTH

Late-life depression is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s. Harvard researchers found loneliness is, too, accelerating cognitive decline in a study that tracked more than 8,000 seniors for over a decade.

Stress is bad for the brain as well, Lipton said. It’s not just experiencing stress — we all do — but how we cope with it. Brooding over stressful events, for example, prolongs the harmful effects on brain cells. One study found seniors with the poorest coping skills were much more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment over nearly four years than seniors who could shrug off the stress.

EAT HEALTHY

Diets high in fruits and vegetables and lower in fat and sugar are good for the arteries that keep blood flowing to the brain. Type 2 diabetes, the kind linked to excess weight, raises the risk of dementia later in life.

Weight aside, Lipton’s lab recently found a healthy diet lowered seniors’ risk of impaired “executive function” as they got older — how the brain pays attention, organizes and multitasks.

More in News

Joe Nole.
Jefferson County Sheriff Joe Nole resigns

Commissioners to be appoint replacement within 60 days

Residents of various manufactured home parks applaud the Sequim City Council’s decision on Dec. 9 to approve a new overlay that preserves manufactured home parks so that they cannot be redeveloped for other uses. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim preserves overlay for homes

Plots can be sold, but use must be same

A ballot box in the Sequim Village Shopping Center at 651 W. Washington St. now holds two fire suppressant systems to prevent fires inside after incidents in October in Vancouver, Wash., and Portland, Ore. A second device was added by Clallam County staff to boxes countywide to safeguard ballots for all future elections. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Political party officials fine with Clallam’s loss of bellwether

With election certified, reps reflect on goals, security

For 20-plus years, Bob and Kelly Macaulay have decorated their boat and dock off East Sequim Bay Road for Christmas, seen here more than a mile away. However, the couple sold their boat earlier this year. (Doug Schwarz)
Couple retires Christmas boat display on Sequim Bay

Red decorations lit up area for 20-plus years

Hurricane Ridge day lodge funding held up in Congress

The fate of $80 million in funding to rebuild… Continue reading

Judy Davidson, left, and Kathy Thomas, both of Port Townsend, look over the skin care products offered by Shandi Motsi of Port Townsend, one of the 20 vendors at the second annual Procrastinators Craft Fair at the Palindrome/Eaglemount Cidery on Friday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Procrastinators Market

Judy Davidson, left, and Kathy Thomas, both of Port Townsend, look over… Continue reading

Services could be impacted by closure

Essential workers won’t get paid in shutdown

A now-deceased male cougar was confirmed by Panthera and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife staff to have been infected with Avian influenza on the Olympic Peninsula. (Powell Jones/Panthera)
Two cougars infected with bird flu die

Risk of human infection still low, CDC says

D
Readers contribute $58K to Home Fund to date

Donations can be made for community grants this spring

Jefferson Elementary School in Port Angeles designated Thursday dress up like a candy cane day. Back row, from left to right, they are: Wyatt Farman, Ari Ownby, Tayo Murdach, Chloe Brabant, Peyton Underwood, Lola Dixon, River Stella (in wheelchair), Fenja Garling, Tegan Brabant, Odessa Glaude, Eastyn Schmeddinger-Schneder. Front row: Ellie Schneddinger-Schneder, Cypress Crear, Bryn Christiansen and Evelyn Shrout. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Dress like a candy cane

Jefferson Elementary School in Port Angeles designated Thursday dress up like a… Continue reading

EYE ON THE PENINSULA: Jefferson commissioners to meet on Monday

Meetings across the North Olympic Peninsula

A 40-year-old Quilcene man died and a 7-year-old boy was airlifted to a Seattle hospital after the car in which they were riding collided with the back of a school bus on Center Road on Friday morning. (East Jefferson Fire Rescue)
One dies in two-vehicle collision involving school bus

A 40-year-old Quilcene man died and a 7-year-old boy was… Continue reading