The moment Dr. Gary Small realized this country’s nearly 80 million baby boomers would soon celebrate their 65th birthday, he knew he’d write "The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program."
“Age is the single greatest risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease, and as people reach their mid-40s they tend to become concerned about their memory slips,” said Small, director of the Longevity Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
And so after decades of studying the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s, Small decided the time was right to share what he knew about lowering the risk for developing the devastating disease.
Although long-term memory of past events -- the names of your favorite high school teacher or your child’s first word -- are generally well-preserved as we age, Small said that short-term memories begin to worsen as we age.
The good news, he said, is that such symptoms also respond quickly to targeted mental and physical exercises.
"The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program: Keep Your Brain Healthy for the Rest of Your Life," now in bookstores, provides the details. But in advance of his book signing Monday at the Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, Small answered our questions about the program.
Q. So in just seven days we can jump-start our long-term memory?
A. When we combine daily exercises with a healthy diet and stress-reduction strategies, we are able to see benefits in research volunteers after one week. That's just enough time for people to see for themselves the connection between their everyday habits and improved mental acuity.
Q. What proof do you have that this works?
A. Of course, to definitively prove the effectiveness of Alzheimer's prevention strategies, we would need to perform double-blind studies on thousands of individuals and follow them for several years, decades even. However, physical exercise and a healthy diet, two of the key strategies of the Alzheimer's prevention program, are already accepted as proven ways to prevent diabetes, which doubles the risk for Alzheimer's. Lifestyle strategies that prevent diabetes can be expected to prevent Alzheimer's as well.
Q. What specific foods will enhance brain power?
A. The Alzheimer's prevention diet includes anti-oxidant fruits (berries, plums, raisins); vegetables (spinach, broccoli, beets); foods rich in omega-3 fats (fish, walnuts); healthy proteins (white-meat chicken, egg whites); and whole grains (brown rice, oatmeal).
Q. Will the program work to restore brain health once you’ve been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?
A. In our UCLA clinics, we often recommend both standard medical treatments for symptoms of the disease and Alzheimer's prevention strategies. We adjust the exercises to meet the patient's level of cognitive ability since the goal is to train but not strain the brain. When patients and family members adopt a healthier lifestyle, it leads to improved cognitive ability and quality of life.
Q. You say timing is the most important word in Alzheimer’s prevention. Why is that?
A. As the brain ages, a particular intervention may be effective at one point in time, but it can lose its effectiveness if we wait too long to use it. And the most effective point in time for using a certain treatment may be years before any symptoms of mental decline are noticeable. For example, research suggests that some anti-inflammatory medicines may protect against Alzheimer's symptoms before amyloid plaques and tangles build up in the brain to a level that impairs cognition. But once dementia sets in, these drugs may instead accelerate cognitive decline.
Q. So how do we know when -- in our 30s, 40s, 50s?
A. We don't have enough proven scientific evidence to pinpoint a specific decade of life in which a particular drug may be most effective or cause toxic effects. We are developing new brain-scanning methods and testing new treatments so that eventually doctors will be able to use a brain check to inform them when to prescribe a particular medicine or vaccine to protect the brain from Alzheimer's disease symptoms in the future.
Q. What are the three most important things we can do to stave off the disease?
A. I recommend 30 minutes of daily aerobic exercise, a healthy brain diet and stress-reduction techniques, such as maintaining healthy relationships, yoga and meditation.
Q. How much longer will your program delay onset?
A. Current scientific evidence suggests that if people stick with the Alzheimer's prevention program for years, they may be able to delay the onset of symptoms for four or more years. This could mean that many people will never get any symptoms during their lifetime.
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