Good news about Alzheimer’s and lifestyle

An important neuropathological study revealed

  • The most common Alzheimer’s pathology was vascular disease (which is preventable).
  • Just 10-30% of clinical Alzheimer’s cases have pure Alzheimer’s-like pathology

From @thebraindocsDrs Dean and Ayesha Sherzai, practicing neurologists:

“For a long time, researchers only focused on identifying abnormal protein deposition in the brain resulting in Alzheimer’s disease, but with advances in tools and our understanding, we now know that there is a HUGE overlap between vascular (blood vessel) disease in the brain and clinical Alzheimer’s disease. And this study helped us understand it better. 

1,161 people donated their brains to be studied after their death. Only 10-30% of the cases were pure Alzheimer’s-like pathologies, and a larger percentage of the pathologies were attributable to stroke, cerebral amyloid angiopathy (abnormal protein deposition in blood vessels), atherosclerosis, and arteriolosclerosis – all vascular diseases that are profoundly influenced by factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose metabolism – which in turn are influenced by lifestyle – what you eat, how much you move, your sleep patterns, etc.”

I have taken care of countless patients and some family members with Alzheimer’s disease. It is a nightmare for the patient and their caregivers. I want to do everything I possibly can to avoid passing this burden on to my children, and this is great news – by managing the lifestyle factors that I can control, I am significantly reducing my risk of living this nightmare myself. 

SOURCE    SOURCE

Reduced risk of premature death with plant protein

A study released today by the Journal of the American Heart Association found that “Older women who ate more plant protein had lower risk of premature, dementia related death.” The main takeaway is that “Substituting red meat, eggs or dairy products with nuts was associated with a significantly lower risk of death from all causes”.

  • Compared to postmenopausal women who had the least amount of plant protein intake, those with the highest amount of plant protein intake had a 9% lower risk of death from all causes, a 12% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 21% lower risk of dementia-related death.
  • Higher consumption of processed red meat was associated with a 20% higher risk of dying from dementia.
  • Higher consumption of unprocessed meat, eggs and dairy products was associated with a 12%, 24% and 11% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, respectively.
  • Higher consumption of eggs was associated with a 10% higher risk of death due to cancer.
  • However, higher consumption of eggs was associated with a 14% lower risk of dying from dementia, while higher poultry consumption was associated with a 15% lower risk.

Need some delicious, easy to prepare recipes that have plenty of healthy plant protein? Join us in the Goal Fit Monthly Membership! It’s just $10.99/month! Click here to get started!

Source