ALZHEIMER’S UPDATE

It is projected that by 2050, more than 50% of all Americans over age 65 will have Alzheimer’s. There are currently no drugs, medications or treatments to prevent the disease. There are five FDA-approved drugs that treat the symptoms of the disease by temporarily helping memory and cognitive reasoning. There are steps you can take to reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

One, good oral hygiene helps improve mental health. The more teeth a person has, the less likely they are to get Alzheimer’s (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society).

Two, never stop learning.  Constantly challenging your brain to learn new things is singularly the best thing you can do to create new neural pathways and stay sharp mentally.

And third, break out of your patterns. Another way to help keep neurons firing is to do the same things in different ways. Take your dog to a different park. Shop at a different store. Take a new route to work or school.

(Sources: Alzheimer’s Association, March, 2017, American Health Line, May, 2017)