Our best brain tips for a healthier, happier life
“0Exercise your body, eat fiber-rich foods, stay social and do hard things. These are some of the habits of “SuperAgers.” They are the “Betty Whites of the world,” says Emily Rogalski, a cognitive neuroscientist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/12/14/brain-mental-health-best-tips/
Yet another reason to lose weight 🧐
“People with higher amounts of visceral abdominal fat in midlife may be at increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease”
See a CNMRI Neurologist if you’re having memory concerns.
Millions of people over the age of 65 likely have mild cognitive impairment, or MCI—minor problems with memory or decisionmaking that can, over time, turn into dementia. But a pair of recent studies both concluded that 92 percent of people experiencing MCI in the United States are not getting diagnosed at an early stage, preventing them from accessing new Alzheimer’s treatments that may be able to slow cognitive decline if it’s caught soon enough.
https://www.wired.com/story/nearly-everyone-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-goes-undiagnosed/
The study found that people who practiced a simplified form of tai chi called Tai Ji Quan twice a week for about six months improved their score by 1.5 points. This increase may not sound like a lot, but study author Dr. Elizabeth Eckstrom says “you’ve basically given yourself three extra years” of staving off decline. The study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
A person with mild cognitive decline can expect to lose, on average, about a half point each year on the test, and once their score drops under 18, people experience quite a bit of impairment from memory loss and cognitive decline, Eckstrom explains.
So, based on these results, “if you’re able to keep doing [tai chi] two or three days a week on a routine basis, you’re going to get extra years before you hit that decline into dementia,” she says.
Poignant audio excerpt by Amy Bloom, about Alzheimer’s Disease. Worth a listen.
Amy Bloom tells the story of her husband, Brian, getting Alzheimer’s and wanting assisted suicide. Her search to find a way to do that led her to Dignitas, in Switzerland. Hear this intimate and frank account of the experience they go through, excerpted from her book, IN LOVE. (39 minutes)
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/779/ends-of-the-earth
Link to the associated book, In Love
https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/677454/in-love/
“The long-awaited era of disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease has finally arrived and will substantially impact how the disease is perceived and managed, although these new treatments will pose challenges for equitable access. The drugs closest to widespread clinical implementation are lecanemab and donanemab—intravenous monoclonal antibodies that remove β-amyloid plaques from the brain and can slow cognitive and functional decline.”
Donanemab appears to be the ‘easier’ choice. MMSE 20-28, Monthly Infusion (vs q2Wk), Stop when Amyloid PET is negative. Probably need to get APOE on these patients.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(23)00274-0
Contact Dr. Varipapa’s office if you are interested in exploring this option.
CNMRI: Neurology, Sleep Medicine, MRI 