Reduce the Risk of Alzheimers

About Alzheimers   Mental stimulation   Exercise   Vitamin deficiencies   Nutrition   Clean air

What can I do?

There are a number of things you can do to significantly reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease.

  • Inflammation. microglia cells, located in the brain and spinal cord, are the primary source of the immune system's defense system in the central nervous system. Researchers have found that when the body responds to inflammation microglia cells proliferate and this proliferation is associated with damage in the brain identified as Alzheimer's.

    In mouse Alzheimer models researchers were able to inhibit the CSF1R gene through a dietary tyrosine kinase inhibitor which resulted in slowed microglia cell proliferation, which changed the microglia profile from inflammatory to anti-inlammatory.1

    Chronic inflammation in the body is caused by an overactive immune system. The new research demonstrates that chronic inflammation is not a result of Alzheimer's but a contributing cause. One way to help avoid this situation is to cut down on inflammation-causing foods in our diet.2

    These foods include:
    • White sugar
    • White flour and other refined grains Note: In 2016 Canadian scientists reported that a highly refined extract of maple syrup reduced the activity of a particular protein found in Alzheimer's patient's brains. This is not the same as the maple syrup you pour on your pancakes.
    • Dairy products
    • Grain-fed meat, ie, beef coming from cattle in CAFOs
    • Tropical fruits such as bananas, oranges, mangos, papayas, pineapples (unless your ancestry is from hot climates)
    • Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils and oils heated for frying.
  • Challenge your mind regularly, for example:
    • mental or logic games, such as playing chess
    • taking classes, such as learning a new language
    • learn a new musical instrument
    Research published in Lancet in 2011 concluded that nearly half of all instances of Alzheimer's in the world are related to just seven risk factors that are largely preventable. The most significant were deemed to be poor education and poor mental stimulation.
  • Get plenty of physical exercise such as walking, jogging, swimming which is vital because it is a preventative against other factors that can contribute to alzheimer's such as:
    • Excess weight
    • High blood pressure (hypertension)
    • Diabetes
    • Depression
    • Smoking
  • Vitamin deficiences can cause symptoms similar to Alzheimer's Disease, such as:
    • Vitamin B12 deficiency
    • Vitamin B1 deficiency
    • Low folic acid
    See more information on nutritional research.
  • Try to live at least 200 meters away from a major road. Canadian research substantiates earlier research that proximity to polluted air is a causative factor.

Footnotes

1. Adrian Olmos-Alonso, et al, Pharmacological targeting of CSF1R inhibits microglial proliferation and prevents the progression of Alzheimer's-like pathology, Brain, January, 2016.
2. Carolyn Gregoire, Scientists May Have Just Discovered the Key to Halting Alzheimers, Huffpost Science, January, 2016.