Jami Dulaney MD Plant Based Wellness Podcast Episode 392-Alzheimers Awareness Month

Welcome! and Thank you for listening.

 

June is Alzheimers awareness month.  I think a better name would be Alzheimers prevention month.  Alzheimers is one of many subtypes of dementia.  It is mainly a pathologic diagnosis described as abnormal amyloid plaques and protein tangles in the neurons.  Symptoms are usually progressive but the onset and course of progression is variable.  The diagnosis is devastating and frightening because of the lack of curative therapies and loss of the ability to care for ones self.  An early diagnosis often leaves the patient and family alone to fear for the future and grab at any potential therapy available.  

As a cardiologist, I have treated many patients with dementia.  More importantly, I experience caring for a patient with dementia, my father.  Watching a loved one fade away mentally while their body is still there is very difficult.  The best treatment we have to date is prevention.  

The risk factors for dementia are not unlike other lifestyle diseases.  Good news is that prevention is similar.  Waiting until the diagnosis in the case of dementia is not the time to make lifestyle changes.  It is too late for significant reversal once the diagnosis is made.  Slowing of progression can occur with diet and exercise but the time to act is while you are still healthy.  How you live your 40s and 50s may ultimately determine your dementia in later years.  

I will offer some suggestions for diagnosis, prevention and nutritional and physical therapies.  Most of all, I offer hope to prevent and to cope with whatever challenges you may face.  

Thanks for listening.  Email me at jami@doctordulaney.com with questions.

website:doctordulaney.comhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2850944/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7168191/https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-much-running-reduces-your-risk-of-alzheimers-98446

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/risk-factors-and-prevention/physical-exercise

https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2021/11/29/aduhelm-side-effects

https://www.amazon.com/Plant-based-Wellness-Cookbook-Generations-Cooking/dp/1733967702/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1U4J4U0SZUXUF&dchild=1&keywords=plant+based+wellness+cookbook&qid=1621083696&sprefix=plant+based+well%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-3