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All Things Dementia and Brain Health: Including 5 Ways to Slow Cognitive Decline 

As you age, the structure of your brain changes and these changes affect several of our brain’s normal functions and abilities. Maintaining your brain health is important to protecting your ability to think clearly, learn, and remember important details throughout your everyday life.

Brain health refers to how well your brain operates throughout several areas. Your brain health includes your cognitive health, motor function, emotional function, and tactile function. Your brain health can be affected by age-related changes and conditions such as strokes, traumatic brain injuries, depression, addiction, and dementia.

Not all factors that affect your brain health can be changed; there are lifestyle changes within your control that can make a difference. 

What’s Dementia? 

Dementia is a general term that involves memory loss, language impairment, difficulty with problem solving, and difficulty with other brain functions, making it difficult to continue performing your normal activities of daily living. 

There are several different types of dementia, but Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause. Dementia itself is not a single disease, it is an umbrella term for the abnormal brain changes that can affect your everyday life. Some individuals might suffer from what is known as ‘mixed dementia’ which is dementia with more than one cause. The following are considered to be some of the more common types of dementia: 

• Alzheimer’s
• Vascular
• Lewy body
• Frontotemporal 

Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for 60-80% of all dementia cases, making it the most common. The 2nd most common cause of dementia is vascular dementia, which occurs due to microscopic bleeding and blood vessel blockage in the brain. 

Signs of dementia can change from person to person, but most will have problems with one or more of the following: short-term memory, paying bills, keeping track of personal items like their purse or wallet, planning and preparing meals, remembering appointments, and traveling out of the neighborhood. 

Typically, dementia is progressive, meaning that the signs start out slowly and gradually get worse over time.  It is important to talk to a medical professional if you notice that you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties with memory or other thinking skills. 

Damage to brain cells is what causes dementia, the damage interfering with the ability of your brain cells to communicate with one another. When the brain cells don’t communicate normally it affects your thinking, behavior, and feelings. Your brain is made up of several different parts, each of them being responsible for different functions. For example, your movement, judgment, and memory… just to name a few. When that region becomes damaged, it is no longer able to normally function. 

Each type of dementia is caused by the damage to a specific area of the brain.  Most damage that occurs in the brain resulting in dementia is permanent and only worsens over time. However, if the cognitive difficulties are caused by any of the following diagnoses, the symptoms may improve once the diagnosis is addressed/treated; depression, side effects of medication, alcohol abuse, thyroid problems, and vitamin deficiencies. 

Most of the risk factors leading to dementia cannot be controlled or changed, such as genetics and age. However, research has explored other ways to maintain brain health and potentially prevent dementia. One study shows that adopting multiple healthy lifestyle choices, including eating a healthy diet, not smoking, engaging in physical activity on a regular basis, and cognitive stimulation, are all linked to potentially decreasing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. 

Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care

Unfortunately, there is no single test to definitively determine whether or not someone has dementia. Some tests that a doctor might use to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia include medical history, complete physical exam, laboratory tests, any obvious changes in thinking, associated behavior and day-to-day functioning. 

It typically isn’t difficult for a doctor to diagnose dementia with some degree of certainty. But, it can be far more difficult for them to diagnose specifically which type of dementia the patient is suffering from. This is because sometimes different types of dementia can occur at the same time, with symptoms overlapping. In these cases, the doctor will most likely just diagnose the individual with “dementia” and not specify the type. If this is the case, a neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, or geriatric specialist might be able to further assist in diagnosing the specific type or cause of dementia. 

In the case of Alzheimer’s and most other progressive forms of dementia, there is not a cure, but there is one treatment available. A drug named Aducanumab is the first therapy that removes the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease from the brain. It is likely within reason that it is able to reduce cognitive and functional decline in people currently diagnosed to be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

Some other treatments (both drug and non-drug therapies) have been shown to temporarily slow the worsening of symptoms associated with dementia, as well as improve quality of life. Along with improving the quality of life of the individual suffering from dementia, it is also likely that treating the symptoms will improve the quality of life of those caring for the individual with dementia. Because unfortunately, when one person struggles with dementia, their whole family struggles with dementia. 

5 Ways to Slow Cognitive Decline and Maintain Your Brain Health 

It’s not always easy to cope with change, especially when that change is out of your control. It is important to remember that although there are some parts of aging that we cannot control, there are still things that we can do to protect our brain health and slow down cognitive decline. Here are 5 of them: 

1. Eating healthy is not only good for your body but it is also good for your mind. Incorporating healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and fatty fish like salmon or tuna can help reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s. 
2. Staying active has been scientifically proven to potentially offset or even prevent age-related cognitive decline in anyone that is at an increased risk for Alzheimer’s. Physical activity is going to improve your overall health as well as the functioning of your brain. 
3. Getting the right amount of sleep is also very important to your brain health. Several studies have shown that the risk of developing dementia can be increased both by not getting enough sleep as well as getting too much sleep. You should aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. 
4. Having a daily routine will help you to stay regularly engaged with activities and people that you are familiar with. This can include making coffee in the morning, doing your laundry on one specific day of the week, or meeting a friend for lunch twice a week. Keeping a routine helps your brain feel stable and comfortable. Stick to the routines that work the best for you. 
5. Stimulating your brain frequently will help improve and maintain your overall brain health and cognitive function. In order to stimulate your brain you can learn a new skill, participate in social activities & keep in touch with friends and family, and keep up with your hobbies. Each of these will help you sharpen your thinking skills, lift your spirits and improve your memory. 

What Are Your Options? 

Knowing how to get help if you need to is important. There are free resources from the CDC and the National Institute for Mental Health.  You can also reach out to your local branch of the Alzheimer’s Association for guidance and assistance. But if you are local to Central New York, you have access to the in-home services of Compassionate Care of CNY where it is my mission to help you and your family navigate these challenges and create a plan to help you move forward and gain a higher quality of life. 

Working with Compassionate Care of CNY means being able to sleep better at night knowing that you and your loved ones are being well taken care of. Elder care options can be overwhelming and confusing at times, but I am here to help you navigate those options and create customized and personalized paths moving forward. 

It is time to stop feeling alone and frustrated because you are trying to figure out an entire system that you are totally unfamiliar with, and start spending more time with your loved ones. Reach out to me to schedule your free consultation today. 

You can contact me by phone at 315-806-6737 or you can complete the contact form on my website and I will contact you as soon as possible. I look forward to helping you and your family create a better tomorrow.