FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2008 |
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CONTACT: |
Karen Mallet
414-312-7085
km463@georgetown.edu
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Georgetown University Medical Center Offers Tips to Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
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Washington, D.C. --Today in America, an estimated five million men and women are living with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer's destroys brain cells, leading to problems with memory, thinking, behavior, and the ability to do everyday tasks. As the disease progresses, it affects work, the ability to participate in lifelong hobbies and greatly limits social life. It is the most common cause of dementia and has no cure.
“Many people believe there is nothing we can do to prevent Alzheimer’s, but that’s not true,” says R. Scott Turner, MD, PhD, an Alzheimer’s expert and director of the Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown University Medical Center. “There are some very important things we can do over the course of a lifetime to reduce the risk of developing the disease, and actions we can take to protect our older loved ones.”
Turner offers these 12 tips to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's:
1. Don’t smoke.
2. Consume alcohol in moderation, if at all (1-2 drinks/day maximum).
3. Maintain ideal body weight.
4. Keep physically, mentally, and socially active (vigorous physical exercise at least 3 times per week; keep up mentally stimulating activities--minimize TV-watching; strong social supports and social network).
5. Good diet--lots of colorful fruits and vegetables, with limited consumption of simple sugars, salt, fats, and trans-fats. Eat more omega-3-fatty acids (salmon, fish, walnuts).
6. Stay in school (further education lowers risk).
7. Avoid head injuries (seat belt use when driving, helmet use when cycling or downhill skiing, etc.; fall avoidance strategies for the elderly at risk).
8. Concussion monitoring program for football players, etc. (mandatory policy: benched if "dinged").
9. No boxing.
10. Monitoring and treatment of depression and anxiety, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, thyroid disorders, vitamin B12 deficiency, as needed--with your primary care physician. Meet recommended goals for blood pressure, diabetes control, and cholesterol with medication, if needed.
11. Monitoring of over-the-counter and prescription medications with possible adverse cognitive side effects--with your primary care physician.
12. Anti-platelet drugs and other strategies for stroke prevention and treatment--with guidance from your primary care physician or neurologist.
To schedule a press interview with Turner and get more information about Georgetown’s Memory Disorders Program contact Karen Mallet at 414-312-7085 or km463@georgetown.edu (members of the media only, please). Patients seeking information about the Memory Disorders Program should call 202-784-6671.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through our partnership with MedStar Health). Our mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Health Studies, both nationally ranked, the world-renowned Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), home to 60 percent of the university’s sponsored research funding.
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