After my dad died of cancer in April, 2008, my mom was left alone in a big empty house. She lived out in the country and the place was just too much to manage, so my sisters and I talked her into selling the place and moving about 90 miles to a town house in the city where one of us was living. We thought maybe mom would get involved in the neighborhood activities, and perhaps feel secure enough to make new friends, since it was a private community restricted to people older than 55. Unfortunately, mom decided instead to just sit in her house with the blinds drawn and not do much of anything. Over the next year, we noticed some disturbing changes. Mom forgot to pay the bills, and the insurance company cancelled her policy. She stopped cooking, and made meals out of crackers and snacks. She lost touch with what was going on in her community and in the world, and eventually she started getting lost when she drove to the grocery store. It was time to sell the car and move her to an assisted living facility.
Does my mother have early Alzheimer’s disease? She has been evaluated by an internal medicine specialist, a neurologist, and a psychologist, and no one is sure. But she clearly shows some changes from how she used to be. What is causing these changes? How can mom try to slow down the progression of the problems, or even stop them all together?
Memory loss is part of aging-it happens to all of us. Our brains actually work the best when we are in our 20s, and most of us start noticing some memory glitches by about age 45-50. In people with Alzheimer’s disease, the memory loss grows progressively worse, along with some changes in personality, until it can make us unable to do even the simplest tasks, or to care for ourselves. The causes of Alzheimer’s disease are not completely known. Some of the risk is inherited, but your lifestyle can also increase or decrease your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. What are the risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease that you can control?
Smoking after age 65 increases your risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 79%.
Obesity in mid life makes Alzheimer’s disease 3 times more likely.
Diabetes increases your risk by about 2 times.
Chronic stress may increase your risk, but doctors are not certain of this yet.
You can decrease your risk of Alzheimer’s disease (and stroke too) by controlling your weight, exercising such as brisk walking, and eating a healthy diet that includes omega 3 fatty acids (cold water fish, nuts, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables). When exercising, make sure you wear a helmet if you are bicycling or playing sports. Head injuries can greatly increase your risk of memory loss. Establish a regular sleep cycle with consistent times for going to bed and getting up.
Exercising your brain may be even more important than exercising your body. Set aside a time each day to learn something new-read a book, study a foreign language, work puzzles, take up a new hobby. It also helps to practice memorization. Start with something easy, and then work up to learning the capitals of our 50 states, or the names of former presidents. Make a written list of your daily experiences, including the who, what, when, where, and why details. Working your brain keeps your brain working.
Social interaction also helps keep your brain working. I would strongly recommend that you not take my mother’s route of inactivity and social isolation-it lets your memory go and it raises your risk of depression, another illness that can rob you of your ability to concentrate and remember.
At her assisted living home, my mom now gets help with taking her medicines, and she has a regular schedule with good meals and social activities. I hope she will avoid further problems. I only wish we had intervened earlier.
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