Warning: Sitting down could give you dementia
... but the good news is you CAN protect yourself and here’s how
YESTERDAY, two eminent neurologists who specialise in Alzheimer’s told how their cutting-edge research has led them to believe lifestyle tweaks can help fend off the disease. Today, and in brilliant pullouts all this week, they are sharing the personalised plan that could change your life . . .
THE first flashes of forgetfulness often start in our 50s when we find ourselves grasping for a word just out of reach, or feel frustrated when trying to remember a close friend’s name.
We all worry that these ‘senior moments’ could be an early sign of dementia. With some 55,000 people now living with dementia in Ireland, many families are blighted by some form of the illness, which, until now, has had no effective treatment or cure.
But through decades of in-depth research and tireless work with elderly communities in California we are convinced that we have found a neurological solution more effective than any medication or pill.
In the Irish Daily Mail, we have introduced The Alzheimer’s Solution — a series of lifestyle changes powerful enough to prevent 90% of Alzheimer’s cases, which can reverse debilitating symptoms and add happy, healthy years to all of our lives — which we write about in our book.
In yesterday’s paper, we highlighted the importance of diet. Our years of research have shown that decades of poor food choices harm the brain, but that switching to a brain-healthy diet can have an immediate brainboosting effect.
Today, we will explain how being inactive can have the same insidious effect, but how regular movement and activity can be a tremendously powerful way to heal your brain and increase its strength.
GROW YOURSELF A NEW BRAIN
OUR analysis of studies and years of work with people at varying stages of cognitive impairment have proved to us that exercising regularly boosts and optimises the brain’s immune system and increases the size of its most important memory structure.
It increases the manufacture of chemicals in the brain that strengthen the connections between the cells.
Exercise helps you maintain a healthy weight, cuts your risk of developing diabetes and even aids sleep. But, significantly, it reduces your chances of developing Alzheimer’s — and it takes almost immediate effect.
The problem is that so many of us now live completely without movement. We’re supposed to move a lot, not sit all day.
Many of our patients say they don’t know how to be active after so many years without exercise, especially when work and family commitments make prioritising exercise so hard.
But if, like many, you think you dislike exercise, let us tell you one thing for certain — you will hate Alzheimer’s far more.
Exercise doesn’t have to be a burden.
It can be simple, even enjoyable — and you don’t need much to make an impact.
Studies show that a daily brisk walk of just 15 minutes is enough to lower your risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 40%.
Use the magazine which was given away in the Irish Mail on Sunday to help you personalise your exercise regime.
The charts will help you indentify your strengths and limitations and ease yourself towards clear long-term activity goals.
YOU CAN’T JUST SIT THERE
BEFORE you pull on your trainers, sign up to a gym or nip out to buy a puncture repair kit for your bicycle, there are some small changes we urge you to make to inject lots more
movement into your everyday life. All the research agrees that there’s little worse for your brain’s long-term health than a sedentary desk-bound life topped off by an evening slumped in front of the TV.
Anything that reduces blood flow (such as long periods of inactivity) reduces brain function, especially in the areas of the brain that govern short-term memory.
Sedentary behaviour has been repeatedly associated with many chronic diseases, including cognitive impairment, and studies show the number of hours you spend sitting is proportional to your increased risk of Alzheimer’s.
What a healthy brain needs is movement throughout the day in short bursts, ideally every hour. So the factor to address first is the number of hours you spend sitting each day.
We now have standing desks in our office (standing up is much better for your brain than sitting) and a mini exercise machine that we jump on at intervals throughout the day.
We nip out for a brisk walk most lunchtimes and we have frequent short breaks to do strengthening exercises such as press-ups and sit-ups.
Now it’s completely normal for both of us to take one minute out of every hour and do as many sit-ups as possible.
At home in our living room we have a stationary bike which we use when watching TV in the evening, a set of weights and resistance bands, a mat, a small step stool (for step-ups) and enough space for press-ups and sit-ups.
You don’t need any of this equipment to get started, but you do need to do whatever it takes to incorporate more movement into your day and reduce the stagnating time spent sitting.
Aim to get into the habit of standing up to take any phone call, or, better still, walk and talk. When friends suggest meeting for coffee, suggest a walk, instead. If the weather is bad, window shopping at a large covered shopping centre works just as well.
Stop using the car for short trips, do a few situps before getting out of bed and squats when you are brushing your teeth. Research has shown that leg strength in particular is linked with better cognitive function, possibly because strong legs help blood circulate up to the brain.
So, just regularly working to strengthen the legs with a few partial squats while holding on to a chair is enough to have a significant positive effect on the brain.
If you have an exercise bike, drag it out of the garage and position it in front of the TV, or pick up a mini pedal exerciser (available online for about €25) to use under your desk, or in place of your footstool so you can get your legs going round when you’d be otherwise inactive.
Set an alert on your phone to ping every hour to remind you to run through a series of simple squats (stand up from your chair and lower yourself repeatedly so your bottom almost touches the chair before standing again), stretches, or press-ups against the wall.
This might call for a bit of creative thinking regarding the way you work, but it is definitely worth investigating the possibility of a standing desk.
Take the stairs rather than the lift at every possible opportunity, never sit when you can stand, never stand when you can walk, or walk slowly when you can swing your arms and walk quickly.
Now, you’re ready to add proper exercise into the brain-boosting mix.
TAKE IT UP A NOTCH
ANY form of activity that gets your heart pumping is great for the brain.
As we age, we lose brain cells and the connections between them weaken and fail.
A lot of evidence, however, shows that aerobic exercise (which raises your heart rate) can enhance connectivity throughout the brain, improve thinking power and protect against dementia in general and Alzheimer’s in particular.
Aerobic activity seems to boost not just the number of connections, but the strength and connectivity of each of them, and is crucial if you are going to be able to recall memories as you get older. If too many connections fail, you’ll lose your cherished memories for ever.
We now know that the brain can continue to grow into middle and even older age and exercise appears to be the most significant lifestyle factor when it comes to generating new cells in the brain. Studies show that any movement — even fidgeting — triggers the synthesis of chemicals which act like fertiliser for the brain cells.
Having strong muscles, and using weights or adding a little bit of resistance training should, ideally, form part of your exercise mix, too.
Studies show weight training improves reasoning and attention skills and stops the formation of cholesterol plaques, thereby increasing the supply of essential nutrients to the brain.
Whatever you choose to do, no matter how gentle the exercise regime, the important issue, for the sake of your brain, is to do something.
It is too easy to make excuses and wriggle out of exercise, but protecting your brain against Alzheimer’s requires making exercise a real priority. Commit to doing some form o every day. It doesn’t matter if you jogging, cycling, dancing, swimming and down the stairs, doing star jumps or repeatedly stepping on and off your bottom step.
If you really don’t feel in the mood, start doing something anyway, and do it for at least five
minutes. Any exercise is better than none.
We have found with our patients that the best results occur when activity, movement and exercise become completely habitual and intertwined with your daily life.
ADAPTED from The Alzheimer’s Solution: A Revolutionary Guide To How You Can Prevent And Reverse Memory Loss, by Dr Dean Sherzai and Dr Ayesha Sherzai, published by Simon & Schuster.