100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's

100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's and Age-Related Memory Loss, Jean Carper, Little, Brown and Company, 2010

For anyone in middle-age or older, Alzheimer's Disease is a major concern. This book shows easy ways to delay its onset, perhaps for years.

If the recommendations in this book can be reduced to one sentence, it might be: Eat Right and Exercise Regularly. Eat lots of deep color berries, like black raspberries, cranberries, plums and strawberries; they are full of antioxidants. Apple juice can boost the brain's production of acetylcholine, just like the popular Alzheimer's drug Aricept. Large doses of caffeine, like several hundred mg per day, may help clean up your brain if you are showing signs of mental problems (people react differently to high doses of caffeine, so be aware of the side effects). If you have cholesterol problems, get it under control, now. Cinnamon gives a boost to malfunctioning insulin, allowing it to process sugar normally. Weak insulin can lead to diabetes, and can damage your brain cells. Did you know that coffee helps block cholesterol's bad effects on the brain, is anti-inflammatory and reduces the risk of depression, stroke and diabetes, which all promote dementia?

Mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise. Fill up your brain with lots of interesting stuff, like education, marriage, language skills, etc. You can actually grow your brain with lots of physical, mental and social activities. If you can join a health club and work out regularly, do it. If going for a walk after dinner is more your speed, do it. Conscientious people are better able to cope with setbacks in life, and can better dodge chronic psychological distress, which boosts risks of dementia. If you are clinically depressed, get it treated, or you are more likely to develop Alzheimer's. Symptoms that look like Alzheimer's can easily be something else (and something easily treatable). Go to a geriatric neurologist and get the right diagnosis, now.

The best way to prevent Alzheimer's is to reduce your personal risk factors, sooner rather than later. No one is expected to do everything in this book. Pick a dozen or so things that you can do every day, and stick with them. Anything that reduces the possibility of getting Alzheimer's, even by a little bit, is automatically a good thing. This book is very easy to read, and it is excellent.