From: drarwingnuttephd@gmail.com   
      
   5 Ways to Lower Your Risk for Alzheimer's Disease   
      
   Amy Rushlow   
   October 21, 2014   
      
      
      
      
   New research suggests aluminum exposure contributes to dementia, but there is   
   plenty you can do to lower your risk.    
      
      
   Aluminum is one of the most widely used metals in the world. Consider your   
   morning commute: You hop into your car, where you're protected from the   
   elements by aluminum body panels. You sip your morning coffee from an aluminum   
   travel mug. You arrive at    
   your desk and pry open your laptop's aluminum case to check your email.   
      
   All of this exposure to aluminum, however, may come at a cost. Research   
   suggests that the metal -- a known neurotoxin -- builds up in the brain over   
   time, contributing to Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative   
   conditions.   
      
   Writing in a recent issue of The Lancet, neuroscientist Chris Exley made an   
   impassioned case that the modern Aluminum Age, as he calls it, plays a   
   significant role in neurodegenerative diseases. We overlook these risks   
   because aluminum is so common,    
   Exley argued. But there are several explanations for how aluminum may   
   contribute to Alzheimer's disease. For one, aluminum encourages proteins   
   called amyloids to clump together in the brain, which is a key feature of   
   Alzheimer's disease. This    
   accumulation may block signals between nerve cells or lead to changes that   
   destroy brain cells.   
      
   Aluminum is toxic to the brain, just like mercury, lead, and arsenic, said   
   neurologist David Perlmutter, MD, author of Grain Brain and the Grain Brain   
   Cookbook, in an interview with Yahoo Health. "Over the past 20 years there   
   have been several important    
   research publications that have drawn conclusions relating Alzheimer's disease   
   to aluminum exposure," he added. Studies have linked higher aluminum content   
   in drinking water to higher rates of Alzheimer's disease, for example. And one   
   of the most    
   promising Alzheimer's therapies involves removing aluminum from the body,   
   providing evidence that the two are closely connected, according to a research   
   review in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.   
      
   Related: How Your Body Signals You're Vitamin Deficient   
      
   Five Tips to Keep Your Brain Sharp   
      
   Because aluminum is so pervasive, it's nearly impossible to avoid completely.   
   But taking certain steps can significantly lower your risk of developing   
   dementia. "The truth of the matter is that there is no treatment for dementia   
   now or at any time in the    
   foreseeable future, and yet dementia, for the most part, is strongly related   
   to lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise, and even preventing head trauma,"   
   said Perlmutter. "This is powerful information as it puts dementia into the   
   same category as heart    
   disease, for example, in which everyone seems to be very aware of the fact   
   that there are things we can do to prevent that issue."   
      
   If you're looking to keep your dome healthy, lowering your exposure to   
   aluminum is one course of action, but it's not the most important one. "These   
   studies on aluminum are intriguing but are in no way as significant as other   
   important and modifiable    
   risk factors for Alzheimer's disease for which there is profound support in   
   the medical literature," Perlmutter said.   
      
   Follow these tips to reduce your risk for dementia and keep your brain healthy   
   as you age:   
      
   1) Watch your blood sugar. "Even mild elevations of blood sugar, well below   
   the threshold for making a diagnosis of diabetes, have now been demonstrated   
   to significantly correlate with the risk of developing dementia," said   
   Perlmutter. To keep blood    
   sugar under control, limit the amount of carbohydrates you consume and choose   
   healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, and seeds. If you choose to   
   eat meat, pick grass-fed beef and wild fish, which are higher in heart-healthy   
   omega-3 fatty    
   acids.   
      
   2) Keep up with cardio. "Physical activity is a wonderful brain activity,"   
   Douglas Scharre, MD, director of the division of cognitive neurology at Ohio   
   State University, told Yahoo Health. Aerobic activity can make your brain more   
   resilient against    
   developing dementia, studies suggest. Perlmutter recommended at least 20   
   minutes of sustained aerobic activity each day, such as running, brisk   
   walking, or bike riding.    
      
   3) Protect your noggin. Even mild head trauma early in life -- a hard knock   
   during a high school football game or a rough crash while rollerblading -- can   
   set the stage for dementia later on, Perlmutter said. The simple fix: Always   
   wear a helmet when    
   biking, skateboarding, or rollerblading.   
      
   Related: Kids and Sports: Is Training Getting Too Intense?   
      
   4) Sip mineral water. Silicon is a common mineral in tap and bottled water. It   
   also chemically counteracts aluminum and is given to patients to treat acute   
   aluminum poisoning. A 2013 study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found   
   that drinking mineral    
   water with silicon helped flush aluminum from the body. Check the label on   
   your bottled water, which should list the minerals it contains.   
      
   5) Lower your cholesterol. If your cholesterol levels are high, getting them   
   under control may reduce your risk for dementia. "In studies where large   
   groups of people were followed for many years, people in midlife who were   
   taking cholesterol-lowering    
   statin drugs reduced their risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease by about   
   60 to 70 percent compared to those who weren't taking statins for elevated   
   cholesterol," said Scharre. Keep your heart and head happy with these five   
   tips to lower your    
   cholesterol levels.   
      
   Related: 8 Foods You Should Eat Every Day   
      
      
   https://www.yahoo.com/health/5-ways-to-lower-your-risk-for-alzhe   
   mers-disease-100615378227.html   
      
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