Experts shared their tips at the annual Move for Minds event.
Researchers and doctors who study the brain want you to know that Alzheimer’s doesn’t have a “look.”
Studies are finding that the disease can exist for years in younger bodies before symptoms start to show. Women may be at an even greater risk, since a cascade of hormonal changes during (peri)menopause could trigger disease onset.
"Developing Alzheimer's disease is a very long process," says Josh Grill, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the University of California-Irvine School of Medicine. "It probably takes a decade, if not two, before memory problems begin."
At Maria Shriver’s annual Move for Minds event, which was held on November 2 at Equinox Sports Club Los Angeles, Equinox experts, doctors, researchers, celebrities, and those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s engaged in conversation about the condition, which affects some 5.8 million Americans.
There’s more hope than ever: Current clinical trials are finding encouraging evidence that anti-plaque therapies may thwart brain injury, Grill says, by preventing the buildup of a protein called beta amyloid, a telltale sign of Alzheimer's.
Other recent work shows that women who started estrogen therapy during (peri)menopause and continued to do so for many years had the lowest risk of developing the disease, adds Roberta Brinton, Ph.D., director of The Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
That doesn't mean you need medical attention to maintain brain health. “If you live the right life and you do all the right things, you can neutralize a lot of the negative effects,” Richard Isaacson, MD, a neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and founder of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic in New York City, stated at the event.
Here, Furthermore shares the panelists' best tips on how to protect your brain.
Be aerobic.
“Aerobic exercise is the most impactful way to protect your brain and stave off aging and Alzheimer's. Exercise builds up the hippocampus, which is critical for long-term memory and is also where the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s start. Exercise strengthens the hippocampus so it takes longer for those plaques and tangles to build up.”
-Wendy Suzuki, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience and psychology at the New York University Center for Neural Science
Eat less Western.
“Breakthrough studies have shown that your risk of depression and the size of your hippocampus are correlated with what you eat. Folks who eat a Western diet [which contains lots of added sugars and fats] have smaller brains as they age. Eating more plants, wild fish, fatty fish, nuts, and beans is linked with having a bigger hippocampus.”
-Drew Ramsey, MD, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and founder of New York City-based Brain Food Clinic
When in bed, sleep.
“Sleep apnea and other sleep-related challenges increase your risk of cognitive problems, Alzheimer’s, and dementia later in life. When you’re sleeping, your body clears the brain of the proteins that accumulate and the plaques of Alzheimer’s disease. Looking at your iPad or phone—even reading a book—in bed trains you to be awake in bed. You want to train yourself to be asleep in bed.”
-Grill
Know your numbers.
“Just by lowering your blood pressure from the 140s over 80s to the 120s over 70s can reduce the risk of early Alzheimer's by nineteen percent. Talk to your doctor, get informed, and you can make an impact on your brain health tomorrow.”
-Isaacson
These interviews have been edited and condensed for publication.