Changing the Alzheimer’s conversation from cure to prevention

We’ve come to think the best way to fight a disease is to find “the cure.” Money and energy is laser focused in that direction and we believe that eventually the battle will be won.

Leading the change in conversation from cure to prevention of Alzheimer’s is Jean Carper. Jean is the former senior medical correspondent for CNN and contributing editor for USA Weekend Magazine. She is also the author of 24 books including 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s, written over 200 articles and considered a leading authority on health and nutrition. Jean also has a personal interest in Alzheimer’s since she has a major genetic disposition for Alzheimer’s.

In a 2010 article “Looking for Alzheimer’s Answers in All the Wrong Places”, she details how numerous research studies are redirecting their attention to prevention.

The prevention view of Alzheimer’s considers −

• Reframing declining memory and advancing age-dementia as a “slow-developing chronic disease” similar to caner and heart disease
• The greatest relationship to Alzheimer’s is heart disease, especially with constricted blood vessels reducing blood flow to the brain
• Other National Institute of Health funded studies already indicate increased risk to Alzheimer’s from: “alcohol, smoking, toxic chemicals, head injuries, infections, certain forms of anesthesia, excess copper, low vitamin B, excess calories, obesity, diabetes, thyroid problems, sleep deprivation, and depression”
• The Nun Study from the University of Minnesota and the Religious Order Study from Rush University, Chicago, IL already indicate resistance to Alzheimer’s by engaging in stimulating physical, social and mental activities
• The benefits of healthy eating are supported by numerous studies including those from the US Department of Agriculture, UCLA, Tufts University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons which recommend risk reducing foods: “berries , nuts, curry power, fruits and vegetables, fatty fish oil and the Mediterranean diet and recommend the supplements: folic acid, alpha lipic acid, Vitamin B12, multivitamins and Vitamin D

The final consensus is that diet and lifestyle are key elements in prevention and when started early on can offset the later irreversible symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

Jean Carper interview below.