Contents:
- Medical Video: Exercise Your Brain To Prevent Memory Loss-Mayo Clinic
- Various ways that can be done to prevent dementia
- 1. Regular exercise
- 2. Maintain a healthy diet
- 3. Take care of your weight
- 4. Stop smoking
- 5. Get enough sleep
Medical Video: Exercise Your Brain To Prevent Memory Loss-Mayo Clinic
Dementia is a chronic neurological disorder in which brain cell death causes memory loss and decreased thinking. Lay people often refer to this disease as "senile". Symptoms of dementia can get worse over time. There is no surefire way to prevent dementia. However, changing your lifestyle as early as possible can help reduce your risk of getting dementia when you are older. What can you do to prevent dementia?
Various ways that can be done to prevent dementia
Various studies show that almost 76 percent of brain cognitive decline cases are influenced by poor lifestyle and environmental factors. To prevent dementia and other serious health conditions, you should start changing your lifestyle and do the following five things:
1. Regular exercise
Regular exercise is the most effective way to counteract cognitive decline due to dementia and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, regular exercise can also slow brain damage further in people who have already developed cognitive problems. Exercise protects against Alzheimer's by stimulating the brain's ability to maintain old nerve connections and also make new ones.
A good exercise session should consist of a variety of cardio exercises, strength training (weights), and balance or flexibility of the body. Cardio exercise helps the heart pump more fresh blood into the brain which can be used as energy. Strength training is useful for building muscle mass to pump the work of the brain. Balance and coordination exercises can help you stay agile and avoid falls that can cause head injuries. Head injury is one of the risk factors for dementia and Alzheimer's.
A combination of all these exercises has been shown to drastically reduce the risk of Alzheimer's up to 50 percent. Exercise regularly at least 150 minutes a week - 30 minutes for five days a week. The ideal exercise intensity is characterized by a little gasping breath, but still able to chat casually.
2. Maintain a healthy diet
There are at least six healthy eating rules that you must live to prevent dementia, namely:
Increase consumption of complex carbohydrates (eg wheat and whole grains, brown rice, potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes), protein, and also good fat (eg salmon, nuts, seeds, olive oil). These three nutrients can offset the negative effects of simple carbohydrates because the body needs more time to digest all three, so it will slow down the absorption of other nutrients in your food, including carbohydrates.
Reduce eating sugar. Sugar, including simple carbohydrates, is the main enemy of the body, especially if you are trying to prevent dementia and Alzheimer's.
Limit salty foods and high trans fat. Too much salt increases blood pressure which puts you at risk of developing certain types of dementia. Likewise with high cholesterol.
Eat a little, but often. It's better to eat six times a day in small portions than to eat three times a day but the portions are abundant, to keep blood sugar levels stable.
Also limit consumption of liquor. Excessive drinking is associated with damage to brain tissue that triggers symptoms of dementia.
Eat lots of omega-3. Scientific evidence shows that DHA contained in healthy fats can help prevent Alzheimer's disease and dementia by reducing beta-amyloid plaques.
3. Take care of your weight
Being overweight can increase blood pressure, which increases the risk of dementia. This risk will be higher if you are obese. In addition, maintaining a healthy weight will also reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and dementia. The simplest way to start controlling weight is to record everything you eat every day in a food diary.
4. Stop smoking
If you have already smoked, try to stop. Smoking causes blood vessels to narrow, which can cause an increase in blood pressure. Hypertension then increases your risk of dementia. One study found that smokers over the age of 65 had a risk of Alzheimer's almost 80% higher than those who never smoked. When you stop smoking, you can feel the health benefits immediately.
5. Get enough sleep
If your mood is very bad as if the world ends when you lack sleep, beware. You may be at higher risk for symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. It's common for people with dementia and Alzheimer's to suffer from insomnia or other sleep problems.
But new research shows that sleep disorders not only arise as symptoms of Alzheimer's, but also include risk factors. Poor sleep quality increases the production of beta-amyloid "garbage" proteins in the brain associated with the development of symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's. Deep sleep is mainly needed to get rid of brain poisons and form stronger memories. In general, adults need at least 8 hours of sleep each night.
