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A Midlife Guide to Reducing Your Alzheimer’s Risk
Contrary to popular belief, Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are not necessarily inevitable.
Like other chronic, degenerative conditions, dementia is easier to prevent than it is to reverse. This article covers seven ways to reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life.
Know Your APOE Status
Genes are one of many risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Certain mutations are associated with early-onset Alzheimer’s or the more common, late-onset type.
Services such as 23andme or Life Extension provide cost-effective genetic testing. From the convenience of your own home, you can swab your cheeks or fill up a test tube with saliva and send it off.
We can’t change our genes (yet), but we can change how our genes express. Each cell in your body is able to respond to changes in its environment. They control which genes get transcribed and which transcripts get translated.
Having certain genes or biomarkers doesn’t mean you will experience symptoms of dementia. People with no genetic risk develop dementia. In fact, some people live symptom-free despite their brains showing Alzheimer’s disease progression! By applying positive environmental pressures — such as good nutrition and…
