A brain. We’ve all got one and now is the time to protect yours. That’s the message from the Alzheimer’s Association of Georgia, the organization that leads our state’s observance of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month this month.
If you see people wearing purple, eating purple (more about that later) or bedecked with a purple ribbon, they are showing their support for the fight to eradicate what it is, for now, an incurable neurological condition. The most common form of dementia, about 6 percent of people 65 and older have Alzheimer’s. This mentally crippling disease compromises the parts of the brain that regulate memory, thought and language.
Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging. In fact, you don’t have to be a senior to experience dementia. Early brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s can start a full two decades before the full-blown disease presents.
Alzheimer’s is prevalent across the senior community with one in three seniors dying from some form of dementia. Even more concerning, the incidence of dementia has increased 120 percent since 2000 with women and individuals of Hispanic origin being more likely to suffer from dementia.
Keys to brain health
The challenge to “go purple” extends beyond ribbon-wearing and it has nothing to do with Barney the dinosaur. It’s the Alzheimer’s Association’s challenge to do all you can to keep your brain healthy no matter what your age. A brain-healthy lifestyle includes three specific “must dos”:
- Maintaining a healthy weight and exercising
- Keeping consumption of foods high fat and cholesterol to a minimum (fatty cuts of meat, full fat dairy products, deep fried fast foods, processed foods, coconut oil and butter to a minimum)
- Eating more spinach, Brussel sprouts, red grapes and plums – all of which are rich in antioxidants. That’s where “eating purple” comes in.
All of us at Kadan Homecare salute the families and seniors who are navigating this debilitating disease. It is our honor to help make traveling this difficult road a bit easier.
