How to Reduce Your Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s Disease by up to 40%

Are you caring for a loved one with dementia? You don't have to figure this out all on your own. Welcome to Truth, Lies Alzheimer's, the show that helps you reimagine a new relationship with your loved one, a relationship a little more free of stress and anxiety. Join host Lisa Skinner and her 30+ years of experience as she guides you on a new path to a better relationship with those you care for. Here's Lisa.

Hello everybody. Welcome back to another new episode of the Truth, Lies Alzheimer's Show with your host, Lisa Skinner. I recently spoke at Northwestern University And I gave one of my signature talks, the one on risk factors, which basically talks about all of the known risk factors that will determine your risk, any individual person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life. And some of these risk factors you can treat or manage. We call those modifiable, and some of them are fixed. So, I'm going to go over all that with you. But the reason why I decided to do this episode on the risk factors, and I've done this one before, but a really long time ago, is because I had so many people of all age groups approach me after my talk at Northwestern University to tell me how moving the talk was, and it really got their attention. And it just reinforced to me that how much knowledge really does give us power to make choices that we otherwise might not make because we don't have the information in order to make these kind of choices. And this is so important regardless of the age you are. So I thought I was— I really wanted to share this information with my Truth, Lies Alzheimer's listeners as well, because the response was just so encouraging and so positive. So let me start off by asking you kind of a peculiar question. And it doesn't matter your age right now, because this is going to apply to every single person who listens to this episode. So regardless of your age today, has the thought ever crossed your mind, or have you ever been concerned that you might develop Alzheimer's disease and dementia later in life? Now, for some people, the thought weighs heavily on their minds. In the past 30 years, I can't tell you how many people have approached me and said they are so worried about developing Alzheimer's disease. As a matter of fact, for people over the age of 55, it's the number one feared disease on people's minds. If you're younger, you know, maybe it's not something that you really worry about because, as we know, it is considered a stereotypical old person's disease. This is true. Alzheimer's disease does not show up until people are over the age of 65, unless they develop the less common version of Alzheimer's disease, which we call early onset Alzheimer's disease. This shows up in people under the age of 65. Even as young as 30. But what if I told you that there are things we can do to decrease our risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as 40% just by implementing lifestyle changes and making sound choices? Regardless of your age today, would you pay attention once you learned you could lower your risk significantly by implementing certain lifestyle choices into your daily routine? Well, this is what I'm going to share with you today because guess what? It's absolutely true and absolutely possible to accomplish this. And As of today, one of the most compelling reasons for paying attention to this is because right now there currently is no proven way to prevent or reverse or cure Alzheimer's disease. There are characteristic changes to the brain that are seen with Alzheimer's disease, But what causes those changes is not fully determined, and it is likely due to a combination of genetics, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors. We know this. So today there are currently almost 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer's disease just in the US. Most of them age 65 or older that may have dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease. And there are currently more than 50 million people worldwide living with dementia. It is projected by the Alzheimer's Association and the World Health Organization that those numbers are expected to triple to 152 million cases globally by the year 2050 if a cure or a treatment is not found. So do the math. That's only 21 years away. That'll go by in the blink of an eye. And unbeknownst to most people, there are over 200 known causes of dementia. With Alzheimer's disease being the number one cause. However, experts in a recent report say 2 in 5 dementia cases could potentially be delayed or prevented just by making certain lifestyle choices. And various risk factors from early life to midlife and old age are linked to people's risk of dementia. So let me give you a couple examples. People with less education before the age 45, and this is not even a high school, so less than a high school education, is associated with 7% of dementia cases because the more we learn in early life, the more cognitive reserve we build up. Cognitive reserve protects our brains. The leading risk factor from the age of 45 to 65, believe it or not, is hearing loss, which is linked to 8% of dementia cases. However, using hearing aids can help offset this risk. And then followed by traumatic brain injury, hypertension, alcohol, and obesity. Smoking at ages older than 65 is linked to 5% of dementia cases, followed by depression, social isolation, physical inactivity, air pollution, and diabetes. So sometimes I have to ask myself, all right, what doesn't contribute to the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease? Because there are just a huge list of risk factors that have been studied and shown a direct correlation to whether it's a risk factor for increasing a person's chances of developing Alzheimer's disease once they reach the age 65. Many conditions have been found to increase the risk of dementia. Scientists continue to unravel the complex brain changes involved in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease, and it seems likely that changes in the brain may begin a decade or more before memory and other cognitive problems begin to emerge. During this preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease, people seem to be symptom-free. However, toxic changes are already taking places in the brain. Abnormal deposits of proteins form amyloid plaques and tau tangles throughout the brain. And so once healthy neurons stop functioning, lose connections with other neurons, they begin to die. The majority of people are not typically diagnosed with dementia until they are already in the mid-stage of the disease. For this reason, it is so difficult to distinguish signs of memory loss as part of the normal aging process with brain disease or mild cognitive impairment until it progresses and becomes blatantly obvious. One of the great mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is why it largely strikes older adults. Scientists are learning how age-related changes in the brain may harm neurons and affect other types of brain cells to contribute to Alzheimer's damage. These age-related changes include what's called atrophy, or shrinkage, of certain parts of the brain, inflammation, vascular damage, production of unstable molecules called free radicals, and mitochondrial dysfunction, which is a breakdown of energy production within a cell. Research suggests that a host of factors beyond genetics may play a role in the development and course of Alzheimer's disease. There is evidence that there is a relationship between cognitive decline and vascular conditions such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, as well as metabolic conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Alzheimer's disease is often referred to as Alzheimer's— as diabetes type 3. What does that tell you? So a nutritious diet, physical activity, social engagement, and mentally stimulating pursuits have all been associated with helping people stay healthy as they age. These factors may also help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, and according to the research, can be as much as up to 40%. That is really significant. So clinical trials are testing some of these possibilities. So let's take a look at some of the risk factors. And keep in mind, the more that apply to you as an individual, the higher your risk is. But as I'm going to share with you right now, some of these risks are modifiable. In other words, they can be treated, and then they would negate that from piling up in your bucket of risk factors, if you will. So I'm going to start with the non-modifiable risk factors because there's only a few of them. And when I say non-modifiable, we can't change these. If you have any one of these 4 risk factors, you're kind of stuck with it. So the very first risk factor that we can't do anything about is the advancing age. That's the number one risk factor. One out of three people over the age of 85 currently has Alzheimer's disease. One out of three over the age of 85. The probability of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease nearly doubles every 5 years after you turn 65. Those are not encouraging numbers, folks. Then our gender. Females develop Alzheimer's disease more than males. One of the, two of the theories behind that, but they don't know for sure, is because females tend to live longer than males. We know this. And then the other theory is because women go through a lot more hormonal changes later in life than men, or basically all their life, but many more hormonal changes than men do. So if you are a female and you are 65 or older, then there's 2 risk factors that apply to you right there. Then we have your ethnic background. So within the older population, and this is a fact, Latinos have 1.5 times the risk as whites. African Americans have twice the risk of whites. These groups have a higher rate of cardiovascular disease compared to whites. Which increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease. They also have a higher rate of diabetes, and unfortunately, they have less opportunity for, uh, proper healthcare treatment, uh, for cardiovascular disease and for diabetes, which also increases their risk because they can't properly treat it and then negate that. And then number 4 of the non-modifiable risk factors are our genetics. It tends to run in families like mine. I've had 8 family members live with one of the diseases that cause dementia, and of those 8, 5 are blood relatives. So that definitely throws me into the high-risk category, but does that mean I'm going to get develop Alzheimer's? Not necessarily. People who have a parent or sibling who develop Alzheimer's disease are 2 to 3 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those with family history. So, don't I feel encouraged every day? Mm. If more than one close relative has been affected, the risk increases even more. All right. Our parents, everybody carries the APOE4 gene. And this is a genetic determinant of your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The APOE4 gene can be passed down to you by one or both of your parents. So if you do carry this APOE4 gene, you are at a higher risk than if you don't. And if you carry both of them, two APOE4 genes, that doubles your risk. Does it mean for sure you're going to develop Alzheimer's disease? No. It's increasing your risk, and I want to be clear about that. All right, let's talk about modifiable. And when I say modifiable, these are the risk factors, and there's a huge laundry list of them that can be changed or managed. And that's the important fact here, is if you— if any of these apply to you and they're being managed, then it almost negates it from being a risk, not completely. So the number one modifiable risk for developing Alzheimer's disease is cardiovascular disease. There is a strong link between heart health and brain health. Those who are free of heart disease or related conditions are at a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Another kind of dementia than those who have cardiovascular disease. These are conditions that damage the heart and blood vessels and reduce the blood flow to the brain, and it is believed that this magnifies the cognitive problems that are caused by the buildup of the protein plaques and tangles. Coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, Valve disease and heart failure raise the risk of dementia. So, if you're managing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease, you can lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, as all of these can lead to damage to the blood vessels or the heart. High blood pressure can cause blood clots in your arteries, blocking blood flow to the brain. Stroke and loss of brain cells may follow, and the brain could subsequently shrink. This is atrophy, as I mentioned. People with high blood pressure in midlife are more likely to develop dementia later in life. Some researchers suggest high blood pressure as early as our 30s could increase dementia risk later on. There is some evidence that these conditions in and of themselves can raise your risk of dementia, and when combined, it can greatly increase your risk. For example, having diabetes along with other risk factors can raise your risk threefold. A 2012 study found that people with mild cognitive impairment were more likely to progress to dementia if they had cardiovascular problems. Okay, number 2, modifiable lifestyle risk factors that are modifiable. Is defined as, although age and family history are out of our control, several modifiable factors do influence your chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. Evidence is mounting for the promotion of exercise and a healthy diet to reduce Alzheimer's risk, as well as avoiding tobacco. 14% of Alzheimer's cases worldwide may be attributed to smoking tobacco. According to the World Health Organization, even secondhand smoke may increase your dementia risk. Also, limiting alcohol consumption. Poor sleep habits or sleep apnea that result in less deep sleep or daytime drowsiness may raise your risk as well. If you're not getting restful night's sleep going into REM sleep, your brain is not getting enough oxygen. Studies have been conducted on several types of activity, including running, weight resistance training, and yoga, all of which showed the potential to reduce your risk of dementia because physical workouts are proven to enhance the development of new brain cells in the brain. Exercise lowers the risk of age-related brain impairment and protects the brain against degenerative conditions like Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment. Even reducing your sedentary time has been connected with dementia prevention, such as dancing and gardening. And there is so much truth in you are— in the adage, you are what you eat. And what you put in your mouth does have a significant connection to the health of your brain. We know this. There are decades and decades of studies that make that correlation. A healthy diet that helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease includes whole grains, nuts, legumes, fruits, and leafy green vegetables. So among other foods, as well as limited sugar. A strong connection between higher blood sugar and dementia risk exists. And this is why the link that Alzheimer's being nicknamed type 3 diabetes is because that link is so profound. So maintaining good control of your blood sugar, whether you have diabetes or not, can be thought of as preventive medicine for your brain. Research also shows that a high-calorie diet can impair memory if it causes inflammation in certain parts of the brain. In a 2009 study, women above the age of 60 who reduced their calorie intake by 30% showed significant improvement in their verbal memory scores. Eating these recommended foods has been correlated with a host of health benefits, including improved brain function and fewer changes that are seen with Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, lower levels of vitamin B12, D, and vitamin E have all been associated with decreased cognitive functioning in some research studies. In particular, a deficiency in vitamin B12 can cause significant memory loss and confusion that may be at least partially reversed through vitamin B12 supplementation. Likewise, higher levels of vitamin D and vitamin E have been linked to dementia prevention. So my recommendation on those would be to talk to your doctor. Because from what I've been told, you really don't want to take supplements of vitamins unless you already have a deficiency. So talk to your doctors about that. And if he, you know, it's a simple blood test to find out if you have any vitamin deficiencies, and then your doctor would prescribe or recommend supplemental vitamins. Otherwise, I wouldn't go there, but, you know, talk to your doctors. Maintaining a healthy weight and keeping your body mass index in a healthy range, especially in your middle years, has been tied to dementia prevention. Also, staying socially active and engaging in intellectually stimulating activities have been shown to have a protective effect against Alzheimer's disease. This is that cognitive reserve that I spoke about when I first started this episode. We build that up and it stays as a reserve in our brains. And this really pertains to having less than a high school education, which has long been associated with increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. While it's your brain that has Alzheimer's disease or another dementia, paying attention to your whole body is important. Deficits in vision and again hearing can cause or increase confusion, but physical exercise has been associated with improving cognition with or without dementia. In addition to exercising regularly, Pay attention to good nutrition. Certain foods have been tied to better cognitive functioning. What I have researched are probably the two worst types of foods that we can ingest are ultra-processed foods and processed foods because they have been altered in the food processing process. Keep mentally active. Mental activity has been associated with increased cognitive reserve, which in turn has been connected with dementia prevention. So even if you do not have at least a high school graduation, or have— excuse me— have graduated from high school, it's not too late to start building up that cognitive reserve. But in order to do that, you really need to keep mentally active. Some of the suggestions of how to do that are to exercise your brain, keep it sharp by doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, playing card games, The number one most effective thing you can do for building cognitive reserve is to learn a foreign language later in life, or take classes that challenge your brain, make you critically think, or learning a musical instrument. Those utilize parts of your brain that, you know, have to translate from one language to another. Something with learning a musical instrument really utilizes parts of your brain that really force critical thinking, or taking classes. Spending time with friends has also been identified as an important factor, both for maintaining quality of life and for reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. It is not the number of friends you have, but rather the quality and depth of the friendships that matter. I thought— found that very interesting. Social interactions have also been associated with improved cognitive functioning. And once again, get plenty of sleep. This is recommended by the National Institutes of Aging. If you have sleep apnea, where you stop breathing multiple times while you are sleeping, it is critical to properly treat it. How do you do that? With a CPAP machine. Sleep apnea has been shown to have many risks associated with it, including an increased risk of dementia. So if properly treated, it can help lower that from being one of the risks that are just piling up against you. And then finally, both early life and later life depression have been found to increase the risk of developing dementia. The why is uncertain. However, the effects of depression can for sure affect brain function. So unfortunately, Alzheimer's disease and related dementia does not discriminate in terms of who it picks on. Any one of us can develop Alzheimer's disease. However, know this: with each risk factor that applies to any one individual, the more risks you have, the greater your risk is to develop Alzheimer's disease. And again, some of these risk factors cannot be changed. However, many that I've discussed here can be lowered by making certain diet and lifestyle changes. And the earlier you start, the lower your risk becomes. And by implementing these lifestyle choices sooner than later, can mean the difference between living your later years with dementia or living with a healthy brain. And this is my hope for all of you, that you take what I've shared with you today with some level of seriousness, because when you're older, And your risk continues to increase every 5 years after the age of 65 of developing Alzheimer's disease. I want any one of you to be able to look back if you don't develop Alzheimer's disease and say, I am so glad I listened to that Alzheimer's lady, Lisa Skinner, on her Truth, Lies, and Alzheimer's podcast versus being the one that says, I wish I had listened to that Alzheimer's lady share this information on her Truth, Lies, and Alzheimer's podcast all those years ago, but I didn't take it seriously. The choice is up to every one of you, but these are the facts that I'm presenting to you today. So I hope this minimizes the risk for many of you who are listening to this episode and you live an Alzheimer's and dementia-free life. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for joining us. We look forward to bringing you another new episode of the Truth, Lies Alzheimer's Show with me, your host, Lisa Skinner, next week. And I look forward to having you with me again next week. Thanks so much. Have a great rest of your week. Bye for now.

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