this fall i was on an alzheimers panel answering questions at a early alzheimers disease conference in the los angeles area
one of the lectures following the panel i was on was a researcher from ucla
she discussed the different causes of alzheimers disease
the risk factors and contributions on her slide as they were labeled are
note the comments are mine
aging-as you age your risk increases
the environment-who knows what we get into our brains over our lifetime from what we dump into the environment
social interactions-social interactions especially as one ages are important
mental health-things like anxiety and depression can contribute
education/brain resilience-the higher your education level the lower your risk
innate immunity-this one you get born with and protects you
some folks immune systems just work better than others
inflammatory pathways-the big area for inflammation is in the gut this inflammation may get transferred to the brain
hormonal regulation-the lack of testosterone and or estrogen and progesterone may contribute
oral health-inflammation in the gums can be transferred into the brain as well as possibly gum infections
gut microbiome-gut germs determine a lot of our nutrition and if disrupted can lead to an inflammatory response that can reach the brain
pathogens/toxins-maybe viral infections or gum infections or gut inflammation may reach the brain
smoking
vascular health ie blood pressure diabetes cholesterol
diet-this is a biggie try the mediterranean diet or mind diet
exercise -is another biggie
genetics-well you cant alter this one well now you cant but maybe in the future they will be able to alter your genetics to slow down or prevent the disease from starting
all these things or some of them going on at the same time leads to the accumulation of the amyloid in the brain and later the tau protein tangles accumulation and then the inflammation that occurs in the brain
all three destroy the brain in alzheimers
the goal should be to alter as many of these things as you can
some like genetics you cant do anything about but many of them you can
so many can be altered by life style changes
it is predicted that 35% of our dementia risk is modifiable
so
whether you get it or not may be in your hands
the organicgreen doctor
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