Managing Risks for Dementia

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
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One of my favorite types of scientific research is the "review paper" when authors collect and review the literature in a certain field and report on the depth and breadth of findings in the targeted area of study. As such, I was happy to see a recent report by the BBC that the Alzheimer's Society had chaired a panel of experts and reviewed more than 70 research papers on reducing the risk of dementia.

The report contained some elements that may be as surprising as they are important. Notably, they suggested that age 35 is probably the right time to start managing known risks in an effort to ward off dementia later in life.

I strongly suggest you click to read the BBC's synopsis of the report but the highlights are noted here:

Strong Evidence in support of:
- Get Physical Exercise
- Don't Be Obese
- Bring Down High Blood Pressure
- Reduce High Cholesterol
- Don't Smoke

Some Evidence in support of:
- Drink Modest Amounts of Alcohol
- Eat a Mediterranean Diet
- Remain or Become Socially Active

The Jury is out on:
- Brain Training
- Vitamin Supplements

The importance of this review, and other similarly scientific reviews, can not be overstated in this era of aggressive commercialization of unregulated health care solutions. There is a lot of hype in the press that has not yet been scientifically validated. Some of it might ultimately prove to be worthwhile but this review let's you know the current state of the science.

Poor Vascular Health is Bad for Your Brain

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
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We are virtually swimming (if not drowning) in the evidence that managing your vascular health may be the best approach to maintaining a healthy brain. In the past few days, I have blogged about several studies on this topic and many more have been published in the scientific literature.

To emphasize this important theme, here is a quick review of the very recent evidence:

• This study out of UCLA and published in Human Brain Mapping showed a strong link between obesity and less brain tissue.
• According to Helpguide.org and many other sources, vascular disease follows Alzheimer's disease as the second leading cause of dementia.
• As described in this post about strokes, one may be quite different from another but all impair cognition and vascular risk factors almost always play a role.
• Diet and exercise matter for both vascular and cognitive health. This has been repeatedly verified through careful research and will continue to be a popular theme in the news.
• This study out of the University of Alabama and published in Neurology showed that high blood pressure is linked to memory loss.
• In surprising news, Kaiser Permanente published research showing that even borderline high cholesterol significantly raised the risk of dementia.

The facts are abundant. Please take care of your vascular health and keep that brain functioning at a high level.

A better understanding and more awareness of Alzheimer's related issues can impact personal health decisions and generate significant impact across a population of aging individuals. Please use the share button below to spread this educational message as widely as possible.