Of the 6.9 million Americans currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, nearly two-thirds are women – a staggering 4.9 million women. Scientists do not fully understand why women are more likely to develop the disease than men, but we do know that everything from genetics to biology and societal norms play a role.
To further understand gender disparity in Alzheimer’s, Cleveland Clinic partnered with Alzheimer’s advocate Maria Shriver to open The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM) Prevention and Research Center at Cleveland Clinic in 2020.
Building on the latest science of prevention, this first-of-its-kind program based right here in Las Vegas inside Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health (clevelandclinic.org/WAMprevention) utilizes a woman’s medical history, biological risks, habits, mood, and memory to create a customized, sustainable plan for lifestyle modifications that can proactively reduce her individualized risk for Alzheimer’s.
One of our ongoing initiatives is investigating how women’s adherence to our lifestyle recommendations, impacts outcomes like blood pressure and sugar, as well as health issues such as sleep problems and low mood. Through research, we hope data collected will further underscore the merits of prevention via risk reduction.
Our work couldn’t come at a more important time. In August, the Lancet Commission on dementia–a group of experts that reviews scientific evidence and makes recommendations on how dementia may be prevented–published new guidance, adding two new modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s: untreated vision loss and high cholesterol. These additions now bring the list of modifiable risk factors to 14, suggesting that up to 45 percent of Alzheimer’s cases could be prevented, if addressed appropriately. When our WAM Prevention and Research Center opened in 2020, the Lancet’s number was only 33 percent.
It is our hope that one day, prevention will become as widely accepted an approach in brain health as in heart disease. Until then, it is imperative women understand their increased risk and take proactive steps to protect their brain health. Changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease start 20 years before the onset of symptoms, so it is never too early to start prioritizing your brain health.
Here is an easy way to get started:
· Stay sharp: The best way to work on your memory is to keep learning and challenging yourself. Take a class. Learn a new language or instrument. Listen to a podcast and discuss it with friends. The key is that you must be learning, putting in the effort, and not doing something that is too easy.
· Exercise regularly: Exercise has both immediate and long-term brain benefits, from increasing brain chemistry that supports the health of brain cells to reducing factors such as chronic bodily inflammation that can be harmful for the brain. Exercise also has indirect brain benefits, such as improving mood and sleep, reducing stress, supporting heart health, increasing opportunities to socialize, and lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes risk.
The exercise goal for long-term brain health is at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week. For healthy adults, more is better, so you could bump this up to 300 minutes, and if you are under the age of 60, high intensity interval training is best for supporting healthy brain function.
· Get sufficient sleep: Poor sleep can have immediate, as well as cumulative, negative impacts on an individual’s brain functioning. Conversely, seven to eight continuous hours of sleep improves mood, sharpens intellect and consolidates new memories for long-term storage. Sleep also gives our brains the chance to clear debris, including beta amyloid, a protein that can cluster and clump together to form Alzheimer's plaque.
· Eat a well-balanced diet: Research shows that a Mediterranean-style diet rich in fish, whole grains, leafy green vegetables, olives and nuts helps maintain brain health and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Try to minimize red meat, whole-fat cheese, sweets, butter, fried foods, and alcohol.
Dr. Jessica Caldwell is a neuropsychologist and director of the Women's Alzheimer's Movement Prevention and Research Center at Cleveland Clinic. She holds appointments as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. Dr. Caldwell is passionate about women’s Alzheimer’s research, helping women reduce Alzheimer’s risks, and bringing the risk reduction message to more women.
"Our work couldn’t come at a more important time... It is our hope that one day, prevention will become as widely accepted an approach in brain health as in heart disease."