I took three months off, but worked every day. I will explain later.
You often hear a familiar comment when someone is unfortunately hit with the news that they have a terrible disease: “One day, you’re living your life, and ________ hits you out of nowhere.”
In the case of Alzheimer’s disease, it does not come out nowhere. It comes out of everywhere.
There are 18 lifestyle factors that either promote or inhibit this disease. This is good news – it means we have multiple ways to build a body and brain that are resistant to disease.
But it also means there are many ways to promote disease if we accumulate enough unhealthy lifestyle factors. Here’s the list.
If you see a % number after, it refers to the amount of risk reduction for dementia (Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia) according to the 2020 Lancet Commission Report on Dementia enjoyed if this area is improved.
(1) Cardiovascular Disease
(2) Stress
(3) Sleep
(4) Obesity (1%)
(5) Diabetes (1%)
(6) Depression (4%)
(7) Smoking (5%)
(8) Traumatic Brain Injury
(9) Hearing Loss (8%)
(10) Peripheral Vision Loss
(11) Social Isolation (2%)
(12) Gut bacteria/microbiome
(13) Education (Cognitive Reserve) (7%)
(14) Hypertension (2%)
(15) Nutrition
(16) Exercise and Physical Activity (Physical Inactivity 2%)
(17) Excessive Alcohol Consumption (1%)
(18) Air Pollution and Exposure to Secondhand Smoke (2%)
Anything in bold can be directly influenced by wellness behaviors.
And now we are back to my three months not off. I spent the last several months working seven days a week (no exaggeration) working on a big project for Alzheimer’s disease and brain fitness. I had to take three months off from this blog (as much as it killed me to do so) because the scope and nature of the project took every available creativity and writing time I had. I did not plan to take that long off from writing this (I wasn’t “ghosting” you. 😊) It just happened on a weekly basis – I would fully expect to be able to put together a blog, then realize I would not have the time to. Over and over again.
You will get more details about the project in the near future. In the meantime, I’m back to writing this and am excited to continue to deliver fun, cutting edge concepts to use fitness to optimize your life – both for today and in the future.