10 Tips for Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of death for people that are above the age of 65. One in three Americans will die of Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia.

Among the top 10 leading causes of death, it is the only one that cannot be prevented a hundred percent.

RELATED: How to Avoid Alzheimer’s Disease

10 Surefire Tips for Preventing Alzheimer's Disease

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1. Stay Active

Embracing an active lifestyle is a healthy way to prevent Alzheimer's disease. The best part is that this doesn't have to be significant, like hitting the gym every day. You can achieve it by moving naturally to get 10,000 steps a day and regularly exercising for strength and flexibility.

Studies have associated physical activity like moving around the house or your block with reducing the risk for Alzheimer's disease.

2. Stay Connected

Social isolation is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. And while it is somewhat hard to meet people during this pandemic physically, you can always devise other ways to stay in touch.

For instance, finding virtual ways to stay in touch with your family, friends, and community is a great way to stay connected. You can also sign up for podcasts or programs that can take people on virtual tours. Educational programs with support groups are an excellent option too.

3. Learn New Things

 

The phrase “use it or lose it” doesn't get more precise than this. To keep Alzheimer's at bay, you need to challenge and keep your brain active.

You can do this formal education by taking a class at a community college. Most of the courses are online, so you do not have to show up physically, especially with the pandemic.

You can also learn some conversational skills like using the internet, smartphone, computer, or tablet. For example, Apple Store offers free online classes on using their products—picking a new hobby like playing guitar, photography or fun games like jigsaw puzzles.

4. Get Enough Sleep

This may not be easy due to work responsibilities, but not getting enough sleep negatively impacts your thinking and memory.

Besides, work underlying conditions like anxiety, depression, sleep apnea, or restless leg syndrome could cause sleeplessness. If you experience any of these, you need to talk with your doctor to address the issue before it escalates.

5. Healthy Eating and Drinking

This doesn't have to be complicated. Adjusting your diet to your age and eating heart-healthy food is all you need to do. The goal is to avoid processed foods.

One tip to help you keep of processed food is the plant slant. If you cannot identify the food for what it is, then it is processed. Another tip is to go for foods that come in their natural packagings like bananas, oranges, grapes, or anything natural you can find in a grocery store.

Equally important is how much you eat. Obesity is a risk factor for Alzheimer's, so you want to maintain a healthy weight. Do this by drinking more water than soda. You can look for ways to flavor the water if you do not like plain water.

Reducing your alcohol intake is also another to keep a healthy weight. One drink a day for women and two for men has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. Being in the heavy drinkers category will affect your memory, harm your body organs and even lead to accidents that can cause injury.

RELATED: Optimize Your Brain [PODCAST]

6. Safety First

Traumatic injuries to your brain can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. It is, therefore, to practice preventive measures like wearing your seat belt or a helmet when working or doing things like riding a bike.

The other thing is preventing falls. One in four Americans falls every year and is a leading cause of death in people above 65 for fatal and non-fatal injuries. Therefore, looking around to ensure you have grab bars and have pulled your throw rags off the floor is a great place to start.

7. Quit Smoking

Cigarettes have been associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Regardless of your age, quitting cigarettes reduces your chances of developing the disease. In fact, after a year or two, your risk factor is at the same level as someone who has never smoked.

8. Regular Visits to Your Primary Care Provider

 

This is important because we all need annual wellness exams. Here your blood work is done and memory screening, especially for people above the age of 65. When you are starting this out, you are entitled to welcome medicare visits and annual medicare visits.

9. Know Your Numbers

Many chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. These are, therefore, the numbers you are supposed to get from your primary care provider during your wellness exams.

Keep in mind that annual wellness checkups are the bare minimum. You can get checked up as often as possible, especially if you have underlying conditions like blood pressure or diabetes. Your weight is another thing you need to keep in check because it can also lead to heart complications.

10. Mind Your Medications

When people are 65 years and older, the average number of medications is five prescription drugs. Therefore, knowing the exact medicines, dosages, what the remedy is for is vital.

This will help if you do not have a primary care provider who does reconciliation on your medication. If you have a caregiver, use the brown approach to ensure that you have a precise diagnosis for any medication you are on.