Do You Know How to Prevent Alzheimer?
Do you still want to be able to remember stories to tell to your grand-children? Do you know that Alzheimer is a very common disease and it can affect you? And do you know that you can prevent it by doing certain things while still young? The key lies in a healthy diet, physical and cognitive exercising. Take a look!
Alzheimer is a type of dementia that has had a very high incidence in the last few years. According to a series of studies, in the year 2006 almost 26.6 million people were suffering of Alzheimer all over the world and the researchers anticipate that by the year 2050, one out of 85 persons will be affected by this disease. Together with the growth of life expectancy the number of patients with memory issues increased also. In addition, the rising number of those having a precocious debut of the disease (around 40-50 years) obliges us all to regard this issue with a maximum of seriousness and do all that's possible to prevent it. There are three areas that can be adjusted in order to eliminate the risky behavior and to replace them by healthy ones:
Physical Workout
Firstly, an efficient way of reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer is the good old physical workout. Starting and maintaining a regular and systematic physical exercise program is one of the most difficult changes one can make in his/her lifestyle. Exercising has a lot of advantages: it improves the heart's strength to pump the blood, increases the contribution of blood going to the brain, reduces body weight, decreases blood pressure and cholesterol level. Altogether these lead to an increased health level and to a reduced risk of developing diseases that can affect brain functioning. If Alzheimer has already installed, the benefits of regular exercising consist of maintaining the motor abilities and diminishing mental decline.
Healthy Diet
Secondly, another way of preventing this type of dementia is by adopting a healthy diet. The knowledge concerning the diet's influence on Alzheimer is still at its beginnings and the number of studies made over the correlation between the two is limited. Consequently, it is not yet certified if some nutritional component causes or prevents Alzheimer disease. Though, what we do know is that there is a high connection between heart diseases and those who develop this type of dementia and another link between some nutritional elements and the protection of neural cells.
Nutritionists developed a diet that contains some of the most beneficial and healthy products. The diet is called the Mediterranean Diet and it contains dark-colored fruits and vegetables, such as: egg-plants, red peppers, spinach, broccoli, black grapes, forest fruits, cherries. These contain a high level of antioxidants, protecting the brain from the formation of free radicals that in turn lead to rapid deterioration of the neurons. Another very healthy food, part of the Mediterranean diet is fish, because it contains Omega-3, a fat acid that brings significant benefits to the cells' membrane. The specialists also remarked some foods which represent risk factors, such as red meat in excess, dairy products with a high fat level and all kinds of greases.
Cognitive Exercising
There is another important domain where Alzheimer can be fought against. Cognitive exercising improves memory and helps prolonging brain's plasticity. The term itself "cognitive exercising" might sound as a harsh activity but it actually refers to all our actions where we involve reasoning and our mental abilities. For example, reading a lot is a strong way to fight against Alzheimer or being involved in decisions making, chess games, strategic games, memorizing poems, solving problems, composing songs, learning music, learning a new language, all these are simple and effective ways of improving mental skills and keeping the neural cells "awake" and "alert".
In conclusion, a problem encountered in the effectiveness of prevention programs is not the efficiency of the methods, but the mentality of the population. People are not aware of the risks of developing this type of disease and actually they are poorly informed about the characteristics and consequences of Alzheimer. The lack of information leads to the lack of motivation in preventing it. Another problem comes from the fact Alzheimer appears late in life and the prevention should begin at a relatively young age and we all know that young people have a sense of invulnerability, they need to see immediate results and this type of prevention doesn't offer this kind of advantage.
However, an effective means to fight this problem could be a highly documented information of the entire population regarding the risks they submit themselves to, offering this way a strong motivation to give up some risky behavior and to adopt new, healthy ones.
Physical Workout
Firstly, an efficient way of reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer is the good old physical workout. Starting and maintaining a regular and systematic physical exercise program is one of the most difficult changes one can make in his/her lifestyle. Exercising has a lot of advantages: it improves the heart's strength to pump the blood, increases the contribution of blood going to the brain, reduces body weight, decreases blood pressure and cholesterol level. Altogether these lead to an increased health level and to a reduced risk of developing diseases that can affect brain functioning. If Alzheimer has already installed, the benefits of regular exercising consist of maintaining the motor abilities and diminishing mental decline.
Healthy Diet
Secondly, another way of preventing this type of dementia is by adopting a healthy diet. The knowledge concerning the diet's influence on Alzheimer is still at its beginnings and the number of studies made over the correlation between the two is limited. Consequently, it is not yet certified if some nutritional component causes or prevents Alzheimer disease. Though, what we do know is that there is a high connection between heart diseases and those who develop this type of dementia and another link between some nutritional elements and the protection of neural cells.
Nutritionists developed a diet that contains some of the most beneficial and healthy products. The diet is called the Mediterranean Diet and it contains dark-colored fruits and vegetables, such as: egg-plants, red peppers, spinach, broccoli, black grapes, forest fruits, cherries. These contain a high level of antioxidants, protecting the brain from the formation of free radicals that in turn lead to rapid deterioration of the neurons. Another very healthy food, part of the Mediterranean diet is fish, because it contains Omega-3, a fat acid that brings significant benefits to the cells' membrane. The specialists also remarked some foods which represent risk factors, such as red meat in excess, dairy products with a high fat level and all kinds of greases.
Cognitive Exercising
There is another important domain where Alzheimer can be fought against. Cognitive exercising improves memory and helps prolonging brain's plasticity. The term itself "cognitive exercising" might sound as a harsh activity but it actually refers to all our actions where we involve reasoning and our mental abilities. For example, reading a lot is a strong way to fight against Alzheimer or being involved in decisions making, chess games, strategic games, memorizing poems, solving problems, composing songs, learning music, learning a new language, all these are simple and effective ways of improving mental skills and keeping the neural cells "awake" and "alert".
In conclusion, a problem encountered in the effectiveness of prevention programs is not the efficiency of the methods, but the mentality of the population. People are not aware of the risks of developing this type of disease and actually they are poorly informed about the characteristics and consequences of Alzheimer. The lack of information leads to the lack of motivation in preventing it. Another problem comes from the fact Alzheimer appears late in life and the prevention should begin at a relatively young age and we all know that young people have a sense of invulnerability, they need to see immediate results and this type of prevention doesn't offer this kind of advantage.
However, an effective means to fight this problem could be a highly documented information of the entire population regarding the risks they submit themselves to, offering this way a strong motivation to give up some risky behavior and to adopt new, healthy ones.
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