By Carolyn Spence Cagle PhD, RNC-E
Welcome to 2019 and I hope a productive and healthy year. My goal for the “Health Help Now” columns continues to focus on providing information to inform your life choices and ways to actively engage with aging for overall health. That said, I could not wait to share new research and evidence on cognitive decline, including symptoms of dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease, that affect the quality of life and health of 5.7 M persons in our country. The diagnosis and care of those persons cost an estimated $277B in 2018 with undefined costs to family caregivers and their loved ones.
Like many diseases, uncontrollable factors such as one’s genetic history (presence of APOE4 gene) and age play a role in Alzheimer’s and other cognitive (thinking) decline disorders that affect memory and information processing for functional health. However, other factors such as controlling one’s blood pressure, eating a healthy diet, and exercising may prevent or delay the incidence of chronic illnesses, including dementia.One recent NC 3-year clinical trial in NC (“SPRINT MIND”) involved 9300 older persons with heart problems or at high risk for heart problems to examine the effect of controlling BP on minimizing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) considered a gateway to dementia. Dementia is a degenerative disease affiliated with Alzheimer’s. Participants who lowered their systolic BP (top number) to 120 mm Hg decreased their risk of cognitive decline and dementia by 15% as compared to participants who lowered their systolic BP to 140 mm Hg. Much like high BP that stresses blood vessels and contributes to stroke, kidney, and heart disease, high BP contributes to inflammation and brain lesions (dead areas) that prevent nerve cell communication for thinking. High BP causes damage of fragile brain arteries needed for brain oxygen and nutrient delivery essential for thinking and other mental processes.
Current medications for Alzheimer’s focus on controlling symptoms of the disease, but several promising drugs addressing the root causes of Alzheimer’s could slow or reverse brain injury affecting memory, disorientation, and other thinking skill problems. Two drugs under development, BAN2401 and aducanumab, may minimize Alzheimer’s cognitive decline in the coming years.
What can you do NOW to halt the chances of developing cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s”? Here are some ideas under your control:
- Drink alcohol in moderation (less than 8 glasses of wine each week); however, some alcohol appears to keep blood flow strong to feed brain neurons for higher brain functions
- Stay physically and mentally active
- Decrease stress to decrease inflammation of body parts and organs
- Eat healthy: the Mediterranean diet and MIND diet (combo of Mediterranean-DASH diet with increased focus on brain health foods) seems particularly valuable for brain health
References:
- Goldberg, S. (2019, January). Into medicine’s future. National Geographic, 235(1), 6.
- Morris, M. C. (2016, March 1). Nutrition and risk of dementia: Overview and methodological issues. Annuals of New York Academic Sciences, 1367(1), 31-37. doi: 10.1111/nyas. 13047.
- Park, A. (2018, August 20). Frontiers in medicine: New hope for Alzheimer’s. Time, 192(7), 42, 44, 46.