Living longer has meant living long enough to lose cognitive function. Two of every three Alzheimer’s patients are women and the fact that women generally live longer does not account for all of the increased risk. While dying from heart disease is a greater risk for women than dementia, we fear losing control of our lives more.
Not all dementia is due to Alzheimer’s disease. Parkinson’s Disease, Fronto-temporal, Trauma and Vascular disease are a few other causes. Often dementia is due to a mix of both Alzheimer’s and another issue such as vascular disease.
So what can you do to reduce your chances of losing cognitive function and developing dementia.
Get 6-8 hours of natural restful sleep. Avoid sleeping pills and nighttime cold and other over the counter “sleep” remedies. Sleep is an important part of staying cognitively functional. Not only does your brain get “washed” of the chemical breakdown products of brain chemicals, sleep is when memories are stored.
Eat well. The Mediterranean diet has been shown to provide cardiac and other health benefits.
Exercise. Regular exercise such as walking has been shown to help prevent depression and promotes cardiovascular and brain health.
Control your blood pressure and maintain a healthy weight to avoid Type 2 (non-insulin requiring) diabetes.
Minimize stress and maximize social and other activities.
Learn new things and challenge your brain.
While a new drug was just approved to treat dementia, the best approach is to minimize your chances of developing dementia.