Make no mistake about it, with all of the toxins now in our environment your brain is already under attack, but how vulnerable are you? Are you pretty safe at this point in time? Or are there forces already rampant inside your brain, which if not arrested could bring you down?
I invite you to take a few minutes to answer the following questions. Each of these has been identified in research as risk factors for cognitive decline or dementia. Then check the key and suggestions that follows to see just how much at risk you really are and what you can do now to reduce that risk.
You may want to print this off and put a “Y” next to any of these that apply, or write down the number next to those that are true for you.
1. Are you over the age of 65?
2. Did either of your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles have dementia?
3. Have either of your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles had a stroke or heart attack? Is there a family history of heart or vascular problems?
4. Do you live a relatively sedentary lifestyle with little exercise? (Less than 15 minutes a day that requires you to breath harder than normal.)
5. Has a doctor ever told you that you have diabetes, borderline diabetes or that you were insulin resistant?
6. Do you have high blood pressure?
7. Do you have thyroid problems, or have you in the last 5 years?
8. Are you more than 30 lbs overweight?
9. Do you smoke or have you smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day?
10. Are you on a statin, pain, sleep, seizure, hormone or depression medication?
11. Do you have difficulty sleeping at night?
12. Have you had prolonged stress of depression lasting 2 or more years?
13. Have you ever had a head trauma or been knocked unconscious?
14. Do you forget more than you used to, or find it hard to recall the right words or names of people you know well?
15. Are you more easily disoriented or confused now than 5 years ago?
16. Do you drink 2 or more drinks containing alcohol, coke or diet sodas daily?
17. Do you drink less then 4 glasses of water a day?
18. Do you eat a lot of foods containing partially-hydrogenated oils? – check your peanut butter and salad dressings.
19. Do you eat deep fried foods – French fries, potato chips, onion rings, or Chinese food (or other products) containing MSG more than once a week?
20. Do you eat cookies, cake, candy, jelly beans or other sweets, pastries, pie or ice-cream more than 3 times per week?
21. Do you get less than 2 hrs of direct sun light per week or not take Vitamin D3?
22. Do you have Celiac’s or Crohn’s disease, Colitis, or irritable bowel syndrome?
23. Do you take antacids on a regular basis like Prilosec or Zantac, Maalox, Mylanta, Tums or Prevacid?
24. Do you talk with your cell phone near your ear for extended periods or sleep with an electric blanket or clock radio within 3 feet of your head?
25. Do you seldom learn anything new?
26. Are you retired without a driving purpose or much to do?
How Vulnerable Are You? A Basic Risk Factors Review
According to current research related to Alzheimer’s and dementia: If you marked “Y” or yes for items 1, 2 or 3, but none of the rest, you may feel vulnerable, but you are still winning the war.
If you marked “Y” for 2 or more of these but not 14 or 15, then you are vulnerable to cognitive decline. The enemy may not have penetrated far yet, but your defenses are down, and your brain is at risk.
If you marked “Y” for items 14 or 15 then your battle is well under way and you are losing forces (brain cells) at a very dangerous pace. You must act NOW with all the strength, and determination you can muster to fight off these destructive forces, or in all likelihood things will go from bad to worse. This is especially likely if you marked “Y” to three or more of the other questions.
However, by analyzing these areas of vulnerability, and following the related guidelines on this website and in our book you may still be able to arrest these invaders and effect significant improvements in your mind and memory. But it will take a concerted effort and likely some time – at least 2-6 months to see improvement. The further the decline the longer it usually takes to turn things around.
More Specific Suggestions
The primary opposing forces in our fight for brain health include: Age, malnutrition, poor circulation, oxidation, cellular energy decline, inflammation, glycation, high blood pressure, excess sugars, high blood sugar, harmful fats, heavy metals, artificial sweeteners. These forces can overrun our lines of defense, damage our brain, and quite literally destroy us. In fact death is often the welcome end after years of devastating deterioration. So don’t take them lightly. The threat is real!
The good news
Although it has not yet been well publicized, as noted below in past posts, scientists have discovered many things that can dramatically reduce your risk and maybe even prevent the development of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. These are the sort of things that we review in our book and on this website.
It’s important to understand that Alzheimer’s disease is on a rather long continuum, in other words, we now know that even though Alzheimer’s is an age related disorder, and our risk goes up as we grow older, the conditions which give rise to Alzheimer’s and most other forms of dementia later in life, usually begin developing many years (generally at least 10 to 20) before they manifest as serious memory or other mental problems.
If we can identify those risk factors early enough, and arrest them – switch them off, or otherwise eliminate them, we should be able (at least in most cases) to prevent the development of dementia.
So for example if we know that malnutrition increase the risk for developing Alzheimer’s or vascular disease, we can reduce future risk by improving our nutritional intake now. If we know it can result from a lack of exercise or sleep, we can increase our physical activity level, which incidentally may improve our sleep. And there are many other things we can do to improve our sleep as well, and thus our brain health. Feel free to explore this website for other ideas, or request a copy of our book or CD.
Suggestions by Item
In our book we talk about actions an individual can take to reduce each of these risk factors, as well as several others, but below is an abbreviated version for your consideration. Feel free to email me at Davidrjl@aol.com for more specific ideas.
1. Age – developing a brain healthy lifestyle can help.
2. Your genes – watching your diet and exercise can influence their expression.
3. Vascular issues – follow this link for suggestions.
4. Physical activity – increase it.
5. Insulin resistance – See # 4 and follow this link.
6. High blood pressure – See # 4, & 3 above
7. Thyroid – see a physician who knows what Free T-3 is, or Wilson syndrome .
8. Overweight – lose some or see chapter 9.
9. Smoking – quit
10. Medication – ask to switch or compensate see chap 7.
11. Sleep – see 4, read this and Appendix A
12. Prolonged stress – Consider this article
13. Head trauma – Consider curcumin
14. Forgetful – Complete this questionnaire. Review this website, then email me at Davidrjl@aol.com for more specific things you can take or do.
15. Easily confused or disoriented – See 14.
16. Harmful drinks – try water, or something more natural
17. Lack of water – drink more water.
18. Hydrogenated oils (TRANS fats) – avoid food containing these.
19. Deep Fried or MSG – avoid these.
20. High sugar treats – avoid these, consume more protein, see 5 above and this.
21. Sun & Vit D – consider a vitamin D3 supplement.
22. Gut disorder – consider a good, enzyme, probiotic and fermented foods.
23. Antacids – See this, take enzymes and Sublingual B-12.
24. Electrical impulses – use speaker phone or place item further away.
25. Learning – explore the world, laugh and learn.
26. Lack of purpose – make it your purpose to improve the health of your brain.
MMF – A Promising New Formulation
Ever since the attack on 9/11 the military has been looking for a way to protect our men and women in battle from toxins, and head trauma of war – from the inside out. With congressional approval and millions of dollars later, such a formula was developed by an elite team of nutritional researchers.
Now 19 studies have confirmed its superior value in protecting vital organs and systems of the human body against such conditions as diabetes, atherosclerosis or poor circulation, post traumatic stress and depression, traumatic brain injuries, heart, liver and lung disorders like COPD and cognitive decline and memory problems – perhaps even Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons’s – due to stress, toxins and metabolic dysfunction. You can view an interesting review of this formula here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OTSxjreE-g
Our marines and other military have been using this for several years now. But a recent experiment with older civilians suggests it may be even more helpful in protecting us against age related physical and mental decline.
And a new company just made this available to civilians. It’s called MMF for Military Micronutrient Formulation. Have you heard of it? I don’t yet have a lot of information on it, but I was able to obtain a sample and will soon have more info to share, and will send that to you in a couple of weeks.
But from what I hear it’s an amazing formulation, and may be more powerful in protecting against age related physical and mental decline than anything we’ve seen yet. So stay tuned, there may be a new way soon to reduce your risk.
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Prevention Strategies 
