| If you want to stay sharp and in control of your life | | | | 2. Supplement where necessary. Many diets lack the |
| well into your golden years, there are proactive | | | | nutrients proven to promote brain health. These |
| methods to achieving the mental alertness you need. | | | | include sources of essential fatty acids found in fish |
| More and more research is pointing to the fact that | | | | and specific herbs and minerals that can enhance |
| physical activity and lifestyle choices have more to | | | | cognitive function. |
| do with preventing Alzheimer s disease (AD) and | | | | 3. Exercise. Originally it was thought that exercise |
| other forms of dementia - once thought to be a | | | | increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain cells. |
| normal part of aging - than pure genetics. So if you | | | | This is still true, but a report prepared for the |
| had a parent, grandparent or sibling with AD it | | | | National Institutes of Health states that exercise can |
| doesn't mean you have to follow the same path. | | | | also stimulate the production growth factors, which |
| Statistics gathered from extensive research do point | | | | are molecules produced by the body to repair and |
| toward a higher risk of developing AD if you had a | | | | maintain nerves. |
| close relative with AD - as much as 50%, but that | | | | 4. Lower Your Cholesterol. Many people with early |
| has less to do with genes and more to do with | | | | dementia or AD symptoms may have actually |
| following their lifestyle patterns. If for example, your | | | | experienced small strokes that damaged the brain's |
| parents were smokers who rarely exercised, you | | | | neurotransmitters. By keeping cholesterol levels in |
| may have developed some of the same destructive | | | | check, the arteries are free and clear of plaque that |
| habits. | | | | can cause stroke. |
| What can you do to break the cycle and prevent | | | | 5. Do your Mental Exercises. Keeping up with current |
| AD? Take action and take control today. Even if you | | | | events, working puzzles each day, learning and |
| are in your 60s or 70s you can reverse some of the | | | | memorizing new information all work to keeping a |
| damage done to your brain through poor diet, | | | | mind strong and alert. It is normal for people to |
| inactivity, or damaging lifestyle choices. Scientists | | | | sometimes forget a name or date, but the more |
| have discovered very recently that the brain has the | | | | practice recalling such information the greater the |
| ability to repair cells and neurotransmitters and | | | | brain's ability to do this throughout old age. In the |
| improve cognitive function and memory. | | | | case of mental challenges, the more you do the |
| It's Not Too Late to Make A Difference: Start the 5 | | | | more you can push back the clock on cognitive |
| Steps Today | | | | decline. |
| 1. Eat Right. It seems so simple, yet too many people | | | | Five easy steps, when you think about it, can do |
| just don't get enough of the mind preserving | | | | much to make aging an event to celebrate instead of |
| antioxidants found in fresh fruits and vegetables. A | | | | dread. With age there comes experience and |
| well-balanced diet, free of diary products and using | | | | wisdom, and we should all do whatever is within our |
| low fat sources of protein will protect both heart and | | | | power to be able to pass that on to the next |
| mind. | | | | generation. |