Overview
It’s never too early to start protecting your brain, and with more than 6 million Americans living with Alzheimer's—projected to rise to nearly 13 million by 2050—this is something we should all contemplate more often.
On today’s episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, I’m excited to talk to Dr. Majid Fotuhi about the top actions we can take to prevent cognitive decline and optimize brain function. Brain degeneration affects millions of Americans of all ages. The destruction sets in years or even decades before Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, or other serious neurological diseases can be diagnosed. Dr. Fotuhi and I talk about the earliest signs of neuroinflammation and some of the underlying causes of brain dysfunction.
We also break down some differences between the non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors for developing Alzheimer’s disease and the specific cognitive decline risk factors related to individuals with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Until recently, the most popular approach to treating Alzheimer’s has been to focus on managing the symptoms in the brain; however, we now know that a better, more effective approach to helping Alzheimer’s patients requires highly individualized treatment, including improving the microbiome, a healthy diet, plenty of exercise, hormonal balance, adequate sleep, and more.
We discuss Dr. Fotuhi’s 12-week Brain Fitness program that was just published by the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports, which saw significant improvement in patients’ cognitive function through lifestyle interventions, brain coaching, and biofeedback. We also address some challenges to applying preventative Alzheimer’s research in patient care and Dr. Fotuhi’s vision for the future of Alzheimer’s treatment and the prevention of cognitive decline. I hope you’ll tune into this important conversation.