World Alzheimer's Day: A Time to Focus on Prevention

For Alzheimer's families like mine, World Alzheimer's Day on Sept. 21 is a time to focus on prevention of this devastating illness. While it's comforting to read about many new research studies, we've decided that we can't afford to wait for a major discovery. Instead, we're making the best possible food and lifestyle choices to help prevent the disease from claiming another member.

The Family Link

Alzheimer's is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Estimates suggest that by 2025, it will strike 34 million people worldwide.

My father-in-law died in a house fire because of an injury that prevented him from escaping. Due to Alzheimer's, he had wandered, fallen, and broken a hip.

For several years before I met my husband, he worked the night shift so that he could take care of his dad during the day. My better half has some memory loss due to another condition. However, he's aware of the hereditary factors linked to Alzheimer's and fears it with every forgotten fact or omission in his daily routine. This fear has led us to a proactive stance regarding the two most important changes we can make: diet and exercise.

Best Food Choices

A research team from Rush University Medical Center conducted a study of approximately 6,000 people on Chicago's South Side who were Alzheimer's-free at its inception. What they discovered made us rethink what we ate.

Vitamin E

Foods loaded with it were linked to a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's. Vitamin E is an antioxidant. Researchers believe that oxidation of the brain over an extended period causes mental deterioration and that vitamin E might fight that process. I make sure we consume plenty of fortified cereals, green leafy vegetables, salad dressings with an oil base, cantaloupe, and nuts.

Fish

The study showed that the n-e polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish lower the chances of developing this type of dementia, making it a goal to eat it a minimum of once a week. Since I dislike most forms of seafood, I often use freshwater fish. The "good" fatty acids in fish have chemical properties much like the gray matter found in the brain.

Fats

The wrong kind is that found in high-fat meat, vegetable shortening, crackers, cookies, and full-fat dairy products like milk and butter. We use skim milk on cereal and in cooking and eat low-fat yogurt daily.

Processed foods

People who restrict them usually do so because of fat and/or salt content. An occasional meal of macaroni and cheese from the box isn't a disaster in terms of health. However, the reason I have halved the amount of processed food I serve is that I don't have sufficient time to dissect product labels.

Exercise

Becoming more active to help prevent Alzheimer's disease doesn't have to mean daily workouts. Experts recognize a relationship between brain health and heart health, and the path to a healthy heart is physical activity. According to the Alzheimer's Association, every heartbeat pumps around 20 to 25 percent of the body's blood to the head. Brain cells utilize at least a fifth of the food and oxygen in your blood. We opt to walk half an hour, six days a week.

For my family, World Alzheimer's Day is an opportunity to focus on the beneficial steps we've taken to prevent this disease. It's the perfect time to renew our commitment to lessening the risk that my husband or our children will become Alzheimer's casualties.