If you knew ahead of time that a tornado or hurricane was heading your way, you’d heed the storm warning and seek safe shelter, right? Sure, there’s a chance you could ride it out, but most people wouldn’t risk it. Why then do we gamble with this cruel disease?
Alzheimer’s takes a terrible toll. The suffering is agonizing for both an individual afflicted as well as their family members and caretakers.
But dementia is not a normal part of aging. It’s a message you will see over and over again here at Easy Health Options. Unfortunately, the great majority of people around the world don’t realize that — and could be heeding the warnings that could save themselves and their loved ones.
Research, which has just been published in the peer-reviewed journal Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders, revealed that most people are unaware that risk factors for the development of Alzheimer’s disease can be reduced — and that the ability to do so was completely within their control.
According to research leader Suzanne Cahill, Director of the Dementia Services Information and Development Centre, and Associate Professor of Social Work and Aging at the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin, “Increasingly the research evidence is pointing to the role cardiovascular risk factors play in contributing to dementia; it demonstrates that brain health and cognitive functioning in later life are deeply embedded in physical and mental health in early life…”
So what can you do now to ensure a strong mind as you age? Lots…
Improving the odds
When researchers in Finland looked for a way to predict people’s chances of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s, they found that the answer to one simple question was the key to foretelling the future of someone’s brain health.
Their revealing inquiry: How would you rate your own physical fitness? If your answer to that is poor, you have four times the risk for dementia compared to someone who rates their own fitness as good or excellent.
“Previous research has shown that self-rated health is a strong indicator of adverse health events. This is the first large population-based study investigating associations between self-rated physical fitness during the three decades from midlife to later life and dementia risk,” says researcher Jenni Kulmala from the Gerontology Research Center at the University of Jyväskylä.
The study tracked the cognitive abilities of 3,559 adults for 30 years. Those reporting poor physical fitness at a mean age of 50 years were four times more likely to suffer dementia during the next 30 years compared to others who reported good fitness.
“The perception of poor physical fitness is most likely affected by different factors for different people. Therefore, I would encourage those who rate their fitness as poor to think about the factors behind this perception. Increasing physical and social activity, making better dietary choices or quitting smoking, for example, could change the rating into more positive. Individual choices that make you feel physically better may substantially decrease your future risk of developing dementia,” says Kulmala.
Now, if you know you’re not physically fit and answered yes to that question, you’re doing yourself a bit of a disservice. Exercise and a healthy weight help reduce your chances of cardiovascular disease – and we know that in itself decreases your dementia risk.
The best brain vitamin
A study out of Exeter Medical School in England confirms that if you don’t get enough vitamin D, you run a substantially increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as you get older.
The researchers examined elderly Americans who were taking part in what’s called the “Cardiovascular Health Study.” Their analysis shows that people in the study who were merely moderately deficient in vitamin D suffered a 53 percent increased risk of developing dementia of any type. The increased risk jumped to 125 percent in people who were severely vitamin D deficient.
The study showed the same kinds of results for developing Alzheimer’s disease. The people moderately deficient in vitamin D suffered a 69 percent increase in their Alzheimer’s risk. Severe deficiency led to a 122 percent increased risk.
Most people get their vitamin D from three primary sources. Your skin makes vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure. (Although in the winter, in northern states, the sunlight is too weak to help.) Your foods can provide vitamin D if you consume oily fish. And vitamin D supplements can also supply the vitamin.
Heed the warning
All of this is strong evidence that you can start now to avoid the devastating effects of dementia. Is it easy? Moderately. Is it worth it? Highly. Your senior years should be the best that they can be — and you can help make them that way.
Note from the Editor: Memory problems don’t have to be a normal part of aging. You can keep a sharp mind well into your 80s and 90s if, for starters, you eat more of these 14 brain-fueling superfoods and avoid these six memory-killing foods revealed in my eBook, Nature’s Secrets for an Active, Healthy Mind—At Any Age! Click here to get it for only $9.95 today!
