Chances Are Good You’ll Develop Alzheimer’s Disease
But maybe it’s preventable.
Today is World Alzheimer’s Day.
Most of us have had close friends or relatives affected by the disease. I’ve known several, including my adopted grandfather and now possibly my grandmother, and it’s excruciating to watch.
Just yesterday, director Curtis Hanson died of Alzheimer’s at the age of 71, and one of my all-time favorites, Gene Wilder, succumbed to it on August 29 after a three-year battle.
Alzheimer’s does not discriminate.
Here are fightening statistics about the disease:
1. It’s the 6th leading cause of death
2. One in nine people over the age of 65, and one in three people over the age of 85, has the disease
3. Risk becomes higher when relatives have it
Even though there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, yet, there are steps you can take to potentially prevent it. Social interaction, keeping your brain active and exercising can help, but not guarantee, prevention of developing this disease.
So today I ask of you, friends:
-Read your heart out
-Write your biography
-Never stop learning
-Always ask questions
-Go to museums
-Attend lectures from authors, scholars and politicians
-Stare at art
-Learn about the plants and trees in your yard
-Look up the person a building or street is named after
-Take a night class in world religion, the Italian language or coding
-Get a subscription to the New York Times paper
-Research why African American men are being shot by police
-Pay attention to the election
-Sign up for a trapeze class
-Take a day trip to a random place nearby
-Fly to a faraway country you never thought of going to
-Learn how to change your oil
-Take a Thai cooking class
-Start a weekly coffee date with strangers
-Instead of driving to date night, try walking instead
-Keep dreaming
Be the most inquisitive person you can be.
Don’t let your mind, or body, become stagnant.
Not only is life more fulfilling when you view it with an open mind and open heart, but it could help your brain stay well-oiled.
(P.S. I’m obviously not a doctor; I just want y’all to live your life to the max. ❤)
