Can we help ourselves in the fight of dementia?

When I started this blog there were three things that are likely to take our lives were heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Strokes and dementia also come within those three categories. There seems to be a correlation between heart disease and dementia and strokes. One of the diseases Alzheimer's disease and other dementia there are over 44 million people are living with this condition. These aging diseases we would like to see how we can delay them, deal with them better, or even find cures. 

The good news is that we are living longer but along with that we have to go through many of these diseases. 150 years ago most of us didn't live long enough to have these problems. We look back at our family history and these diseases come up. It raises the question is there anything I can do that can help me deal with these things better than my relatives. 

My life experiences, reading many different scientific sources tells me that we've gotten better in our medicine and treatment of these diseases. We can't kid ourselves it is not just lifestyle changes. There have been many improvements, and technology, healthcare that help against the fight of these things. The cure we aren't there yet, we have recovery, remission, delays and in someways we can return to normal life for a longtime.  

CNN reported the following information. I've added to each point after the topic sentence and a number six. There is no guarantees that we can avoid dementia but there is every indication that we can delay it and maybe even avoided altogether.

When it comes to dementia here are some ideas that might help us: 

1. Look after your heart. Become familiar with the American Heart Association's diet recommendations. Taking care of your heart also helps you deal with cancer and diabetes and now they say dementia. 
2. Be physically active. Move throughout your day. Don't just sit around the get up and move every half hour or so. Be physically fit enough to take a 30 minute walk. Most people at 50 can do this. The older we are and start walking it may take a little bit time to get up to shape to do this. A 30 minute walk or even a 20 minute walk boost our immune system, helps control our blood sugar, raises are good cholesterol, cleans out our arteries and veins, helps our lungs, the increase blood flow to her extremities and is wonderful for brains and our feet. Get up pedometer and try to walk 5,000 to 10,000 steps every day. Do strength training at least twice a week, and work on your flexibility.
3. Follow a healthy diet. Learn to eat a portion diet with a three-quarter plate. Avoid seconds and practice moderation. For example limit your coffee to 2 cups, or beer and wine to one or two. Drink more water. I have looked at several studies that indicate in dementia people lived too long under-hydrated. One of the things that happens we get older is our bladder control is not as good. Instinctively we will avoid drinking so that we don't have to use the bathroom at night. But this is no good for our brain and joint health. Water by the way puts liquids into the joints and you can help you move better. So take time to read about water intake. Fruits and veggies servings remember this line, five is fine, nine is divine.
4. Challenge your brain. Keep learning and developing new pathways for your brain. Walking also helps your brain grow as you age.
5. Enjoys social activity. 25% of us deal with depression from 62 on. Loneliness happens to many seniors. So get out and enjoy people, make new friends. Dealing with loss can be very difficult as we get older. We need to keep renewing new friendships. From my experience I think it's a good idea to include a psychiatric professional to your medical team. This doesn't mean that you're nuts, but just like our organs and body has more difficulties so does our nervous system and brain. Choosing a blue sky over a blue mood is easy for me. 
6. Develop a spiritual life. You maybe set in your ways and find change hard but don't lose hope. Church life, worship, prayer, bible study have all been shown to help us as we age. This poem is true

To dwell above 

With the Saints of love 

That will be glory. 

But the dwell below 

With the Saints I know 

That is a different story.

Yes it's true there's no perfect church and doggone it, Christians do the craziest things. But I like to think it's an exact craziness we need. The expectations are for people to be perfect and yet we need a place where we can be human and grow. Most of all we need a place to learn about the Lord and hope that he's still working with us. There is nobody who is perfect in health.  Keep walking