There are so many strategies that you can employ right now to decrease your dementia risk.
- Cardiovascular disease: get a yearly EKG to check for atrial fibrillation and yearly lipid labs to check for atherosclerosis. Undiagnosed heart disease can significantly increase your risk of dementia.
- Sleep: get a sleep study to check for sleep apnea. Avoid harmful sleep medications, including Benadryl, Ambien and Xanax.
- Bad habits: limit alcohol to <2 drinks per day. Avoid tobacco entirely. Limit coffee to <5 cups per day.
- Diet/Supplements: follow the Mediterranean diet. If you are deficient, take vitamin B12, vitamin D, omega-3, and methylfolate.
- Senses: untreated hearing loss and vision loss can accelerate dementia. Get your vision and hearing checked every year.
- Metabolic health: get a yearly blood test to check for diabetes and thyroid disease.
- Mental health: untreated anxiety and depression are major risk factors for dementia. Talk with your doctor about medications, and therapy options.
- Sexual health: untreated HIV and syphilis can cause a specific kind of dementia. Get an STD test after each new sexual partner.
- Physical exercise: aim for 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, >6000 steps per day, and add strength training with weights to your exercise routine.
- Mental exercise: I recommend playing New York Times Games every day to keep you sharp. My favorite games are Wordle, Spelling Bee, and Connections.
