There are two forms of Alzheimers – about 1% of cases are the early-onset genetic form. Other forms are partly genetic, but largely caused by factors that are in our control.
What you can do:
● exercise
● Mediterranean diet
● normal blood pressure – exercise & Mediterranean diet help here
● high levels of good cholesterol – exercise & Mediterranean diet help here too
More good news – the measures above will improve all other aspects of health too, including reduced incidence of cancer, Parkinson's, & heart disease.
Transcript of the video:
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4524857.htm
More about Mediterranean diet:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801 / memory is the mother of all wisdom fundamental part of being human Alzheimer's disease slowly robs the mind cruel and undignified descent Prof Cassandra Szoeke every five years after the age of 65 your chance of getting dementia doubles no cure research Alzheimer's delayed prevented possible have healthy older age intact memory cognitive function lifestyle choices today affect chances cognitive decline in the future Prof Kirk Erickson one year brisk walking roll back ageing clock by one to two years Prof Cassandra Szoeke adhering Mediterranean diet had better cognition what we eat how much we move how we sleep scientists power push back disease Prof Ralph Martins 80% of Alzheimer's is preventable Graham Plant cakes developed Alzheimer's slow onset slightly worse forget things cooking forget disoriented forgetting diagnosed with dementia Alzheimer's you lose them long before they go Alzheimer's disease most common form of dementia up to 70% of cases condition chronic degenerative ultimately terminal hallmarks of the disease clinically speaking memory loss change in brain function dementias other brain functions memory Alzheimer's disease first changes noticed are memory healthy brain billions of neurons send messages via electrical chemical signals long tail axon synaptic connections messages travel Alzheimer's brain toxic deposits accumulate protein beta-amyloid amyloid attract another brain protein called tau form fibrous clumps inside brain cells disturbs brain's message transport system neural networks effectively disintegrate characteristic accumulation beta-amyloid detectable after death post-mortem Australian research advanced imaging living process of accumulation begin several decades before Alzheimer's disease appears normal amount amount in people with Alzheimer's disease takes about 20 years intervene before you've lost any brain cells before you've got memory loss intervening much earlier than we are now image Alzheimer's diseased brain lots holes lots of cell loss really wide ventricles occurs over a great many years intervene 10 years before expect still some cell loss a lot more of this white matter intervene 20 30 years before disease maintain full cell function cells without loss early intervention is just so important midlife mother died from Alzheimer's take active steps avoid Alzheimer’s what processes do to reduce the risk healthy overweight running health and wellbeing science genetic risk Alzheimer's less than you might think Prof Ralph Martins less than 1% of people who have a genetic form of Alzheimer's uncommon familial form early-onset Alzheimer's more prevalent later-onset form of the disease riskiest gene variant APOE4 environmental factors largely determine whether the disease develops Prof Ralph Martins genetic risk factors don't cause Alzheimer's disease other factors lifestyle factors people go over the edge develop Alzheimer's disease genetic component risk about a quarter three-quarters risk environmental something that we can change encouraging message exactly what we should be doing latest research identify preventative factors cognitive decline researcher team followed group 400 women Melbourne study beganwomen aged between 45 and 55 monitored next 20 years wide range assessments done physical measures weight BMI battery neuro-psychiatric tests researcher reaction time task recruiting participants midlife pivotal studies cognitive decline dementia recruit participants over 60 over 70 when cognitive decline in dementia starts to occur repeat as many of the words as you can remember our work what people were doing at 45 to 55 cognitive decline across 15 years what factors were most important most important preventative factors preventive factors against cognitive decline normal blood pressure high levels good cholesterol number one was being physically active results paper entire group group trends individual people's test results exercising every day remembered eight words remembered as many words as possible ceiling of the test exercising on average daily good memory recollection maintained all of the years of the study never exercised poor memory function declines quite considerably over the testing period memory decline over this period effect was cumulative what you did entire 20 years important memory you had in later life very clear message move often start today study not prescriptive what kind of physical activity being active on a daily basis research women only observational scientific gold standard randomised control trials American neuroscientist Kirk Erickson conducted several of these trials older adults both women and men effect of moderate exercise brain size and memory relatively inactive people aerobic walking group stretching control group trainer Prof Kirk Erickson three days per week intensity of the activity walking group moderate intensity stretching toning light intensity participants began activities brains were imaged MRI machine magnetic resonance imaging machine take very high-resolution detailed images of their brain hippocampus region critical to memory formation Prof Kirk Erickson hippocampus hippocampus deeper in the centre of the brain normal ageing decline size hippocampus 1% to 2% a year after the age of 50 trial found that brisk walking could reverse that decline pattern of normal ageing control group normal decline people that are exercising exercising group showed increase size of this structure one-year period change size structure amounted 2% increase hippocampus rolling back the clock ageing of the hippocampus very tangible changes structure brain improved cognitive function hippocampus memory formation exercise influences hippocampus deterioration hippocampus age leads to Alzheimer's disease enlarging hippocampus through exercise clinical meaningful impact memory function risk for dementia eating very differently to her very different cuisine diet better brain health in general meat fish fish protein intake oils benefits fish primarily vegetable no dairy reduced weight research cardiovascular benefits healthy diet mounting evidence diet impacts brain cognitive function research Mediterranean diet investigations Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle study AIBL study Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle study AIBL study investigated effect Western diet versus Mediterranean diet cognitive change AIBL study longitudinal study longitudinal study diet Mediterranean diet lower risk of Alzheimer's lower levels of beta-amyloid in their brain AIBL study gold-standard clinical trial findings are consistent with other similar studies adherence Mediterranean diet good executive functioning planning Western diet is more likely to drop your visuospatial associated with a vascular disease Western diet Sue Radd dietitian expert Mediterranean diet dishes Mediterranean garlic onion olive oil good-quality clinical trials Mediterranean diet cognition brain function next frontier reason to be optimistic Mediterranean diet associated with a longer life span Mediterranean diet cuisine consumed olive-growing regions around the Mediterranean Sea culturally broad diverse area Sue Radd Lebanon Morocco Spain Italy Greece characterising Mediterranean plant-based diet unrefined foods whole grains legumes fruits vegetables nuts seeds extra-virgin olive oil olive oil sweetens vegetables bitter-tasting vegetables edible wild greens masked bitterness masked olive oil makes vegies taste really sweet each ingredient diet protective against Alzheimer's isn't yet clear two particular ingredients have very powerful roles to play fish omega-3s fish fruit vegetables anti-oxidants fruit vegetables Sue Radd thoroughly washed dark leafy greens endive dark green leafy vegetables scientific research very rich lutein Lutein important anti-oxidant deposited in the back of the eye macula sunscreen for the eye taken up into the brain concentrated important role anti-oxidant dark green leafy vegetables loaded nitrate nitrate consumed converted nitric oxide nitric oxide keep your blood vessels flexible olive oil Mediterranean diet low in refined sugar traditional Mediterranean diet very low added sugar content sweeteners honey grape diet low-sugar sugar participant AIBL study Mediterranean diet cutting out all the cakes and biscuits ice-creams excessive sugar intake Western diet increases risk developing insulin resistance action of the body's insulin becomes ineffective researchers Professor Suzanne de la Monte detrimental effect on the brain brain diabetes Alzheimer's Prof Suzanne de la Monte brain diabetes story research Insulin hormone controlling amount blood glucose in the body insulin has crucial role brain aids uptake glucose brain's nerve cells regulate chemicals involved the brain's signalling Prof Suzanne de la Monte insulin effect keeping neurons alive studying studying how insulin worked in the brain /
