There was a conference held in Washington DC recently that dealt with prevention of dementia. This was an important event, as our society tends to approach health quite reactively. Indeed, the first Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on the Prevention of Dementia was held in mid April and lifestyle was highlighted as an important factor in both the etiology and potential protection against dementia.
As my work over the past decade or more has been focused on a proactive and comprehensive brain health lifestyle ® to build brain resiliency, it is easy to understand how pleased I am to see such conferences and discussion. I have been working to promote a comprehensive lifestyle approach that includes nutrition, socialization, mental stimulation, physical activity, and spirituality to build brain health across the lifespan (see www.paulnussbaum.com).
I was pleased to serve as guest editor of Generations, the official journal of the American Society on Aging (www.asaging.org) that published a special issue on the latest clinical research on brain health and lifestyle (Generations, 35, 2011). The information was then presented at the recent Annual Conference of the American Society of Aging-Brain Health Forum. Interestingly, the event was also held in Washington DC. Perhaps the one-two punch on brain health and lifestyle will generate some interest in the legislative world where it can help to prioritize a national proactive and lifelong effort for brain health.
A brain health lifestyle ® needs to begin in the womb and to be prioritized across the entire lifespan. Delaying or withstanding the effects of the neuropathological markers of the disease can have an enormous benefit for both quality of life and the economics of Alzheimer’s disease. There is nothing wrong with ongoing study for an intervention that will halt or cure the disease. However, it is simply foolish to ignore the robust literature on the relationship between lifestyle and brain resiliency. It is the resiliency of the human brain that is at present perhaps our best approach to confront and combat potential dementia.
Most important, the proactive brain health lifestyle ® (see Nussbaum-Save Your Brain at Amazon.com) needs to be started at the earliest of ages, prioritized in our lives, and understood from a deeply personal level.