TIPS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ALZHEIMER’S
Did you know that eating grill meat could increase your risk of being struck down by dementia? Or that getting on the treadmill can help keep your brain sharp?
The dozens of choices you make over the course of any average day — ordering the curry vs. the samosas, reading the newspaper vs. watching the news — really can determine whether you’ll develop Alzheimer’s years from now as well as how quickly the disease will progress.
There are no drugs or procedures that can cure or even effectively treat Alzheimer’s. But you have the power to outsmart this terrifying disease, by combating some of its major risk factors: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stress, social isolation, and sleeplessness.
Reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer’s with these simple tips from Outsmarting Alzheimer’s by Kenneth S. Kosik, MD, and Alisa Bowman.
1. Enjoy coffee in the morning
Caffeine consumed too late in the day may disturb your sleep. But coffee consumption in the morning and perhaps the early afternoon, depending on your personal caffeine sensitivity, may reduce risk.
Coffee contains a chemical called eicosanoyl-5-hydroxytryptamide (EHT) that, in studies done on rats, has been shown to protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
The caffeine itself may also be protective: Mice develop fewer tau tangles in their brains when their drinking water was infused with caffeine.
In humans, Johns Hopkins University’s researchers have shown that 200 milligrams of caffeine — the amount in one strong cup of coffee — can help us consolidate memories and more easily memorize new information.
2. Play for cause
Foldit is a multiplayer game designed by computer scientists at the University of Washington and it enables non-scientists to work with others to solve challenging prediction problems concerning protein folding. One day this game may help us understand how tau proteins misfold in the brain.
Another game, Nanocrafter, allows you to build everything from computer circuits to nano-scale machines using pieces of DNA.
Other interactive games- ranging from Bridge to Chinese checkers to Pictionary to charades, cause us to exercise social smarts along with intellectual ones.
In addition, using our brains to strategize and at times, to do the math, such games force us to contemplate what other players are likely to do.
Video games also have great benefits, they may even be better for you than books.
3.Talk to strangers
When we’re seated next to a stranger on a bus, plane or train, most of us clam up and keep to ourselves.
Yet, research from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business has found that many of us overestimate the difficulty of connecting with strangers and underestimate the rewards of doing so.
Before engaging in the study, participants predicted that engaging with strangers would reduce their well-being. But when they went ahead and struck up a conversation with the person seated next to them, the opposite happened. They felt better than when they sat in solitude.
Talking to strangers is also a great idea when you are travelling.
4. Form a dog-walking ground
Our pets really are part of our social network. They sleep in our beds, get pictures in our family portraits.
And often earn a great deal of space in our holiday letters. They also, in many cases, listen attentively to our problems. Some surveys show that our pets are better listeners than our spouses.
Walk your pets together with your neighbours.
5. Choose the brightest of the bunch
The pigments that lend bright colours to many fruits and vegetables are especially powerful sources of antioxidants.
Higher vegetable consumption was associated with slower rate of cognitive decline in 3,718 people aged 65 years, and older who participated in the Chicago Health and Aging Project.
All of the study participants scored lower on cognitive tests at the end of the study than they did at the beginning,
But those who consumed more than four daily servings of vegetables experienced a 40 percent slower decline in their abilities than people who consumed less than one daily serving.
6. Get a massage
One research review out of University of Miami and Duke University concludes that massage helps to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol while boosting levels of brain chemicals thought to be associating with positive emotion.
7. Soak potatoes before cooking
Potatoes contain an amino acid called asparagine that, when exposed to high heat, changes into acrylamide, a neurotoxin. Acrylamide binds to the ends of our axons, making it tougher for brain cells to communicate with one another. Water protects asparagine!
So soaking potatoes for 15 to 30 minutes before cooking them can stop it from transforming into acrylamide. Drain the potatoes and blot them dry before cooking.
8. Check out a Laughter club
It’s no joke. Laughter clubs exist all over the world. They’re run by “certified laughter leaders” — often psychologists, therapists, and psychiatrists — who are trained in the healing benefits of laughter. These workshops can help you connect with others as you get a good laugh. Look at WorldLaughterTour, Inc. to find out if there’s a club near you.
A good belly laugh produces a chemical reaction that elevates your mood
Moreover, reduces pain and stress and blood pressure, and boosts immunity.
Humour therapy may be as effective as some prescription drugs. at reducing agitation in people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
While at reducing agitation in people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
9. Nap strategically
Researchers at the oratory of Human Chronobiology at Weill Cornell Medical College in White Plains, New York,
They have researched that how 22 men and women reacted to varying napping regimens.
Also, finding that naps of all lengths which enhanced cognitive performance during the day.
