What can I do to prevent my own Alzheimer’s?

If you care for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, you know you’ve got your work cut out for you. Maybe you don’t want to see the same symptoms in yourself someday. Or maybe want to spare your friends and family from performing the same caregiving you do now. Whatever the case, below are a few tips to reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s:

Exercise

Exercise, particularly the aerobic kind, increases blood flow to your brain. By improving connections between neurons and reducing inflammation, your risk of Alzheimer’s goes down.

Feast on greens

You’ve heard that a plant-based diet is healthier for many reasons – one of which is because it protects your brain from inflammation. That’s because this type of diets increases the antioxidants in your body.

Learn something new

It’s not just Sudoku and crossword puzzles that keep your brain strong. Learning new skills, such as a second language or playing the piano, creates new synapses (neural connections) so your brain functions at optimum levels.

There are several treatments to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, but presently there is no cure. However, if you do even one of the things listed above, it’s entirely possible you may not need one.