Alzheimer’s disease is expected to impact nearly 13 million Americans by 2050, including 99,000 Minnesotans today, according to the Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dakota. So, as you contemplate your New Year’s resolutions for 2023, consider there are important steps you can take to maintain and improve your brain health.

Research has shown lifestyle changes like improving diet and exercising regularly have helped drive down death rates from cancer, heart disease and other major diseases. These same lifestyle changes may also reduce or slow your risk of cognitive decline, which is often a precursor to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

“There is increasing evidence to suggest that what is good for the heart is good for our brains,” says Jenna Fink, Associate Director of Community Services at the Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dakota. “Keeping our brains healthy is not something we should worry about only as we get older. It is an important, but often overlooked, area of health and should be a lifelong effort.”

Healthy brain tips

Looking for tips on how to protect your brain health? Here are several ideas borne from research supported by the Alzheimer’s Association:

• Cut back on “ultra-processed” foods – people who consume the highest amount of ultra-processed foods have a 28% faster decline in global cognitive scores – including memory, verbal fluency, and executive function – compared to those with lower consumption, according to research involving half a million people living in the UK. High consumption was defined as more than 20% of daily caloric intake. Ultra-processed foods are those that go through significant industrial processes and contain large quantities of fats, sugar, salt, artificial flavors/colors, stabilizers and/or preservatives.
  • Examples include sodas, breakfast cereals, white bread, potato chips, and frozen foods, such as lasagna, pizza, ice cream, hamburgers and fries.
• Get vaccinated – getting an annual flu vaccination was associated with a 40% decrease in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease over the next four years, according to researchers from The University of Texas’ McGovern Medical School who found that even a single flu vaccination could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by 17%.
• Get vaccinated (part 2) – getting a vaccination against pneumonia between the ages of 65 and 75 reduced Alzheimer’s risk by up to 40% according to a Duke University’s Social Science Research Institute study.
• Manage your blood pressure – people treated by FDA-approved medications to a top (systolic) blood pressure reading of 120 instead of 140 were 19 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, according to a study led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Those people also had fewer signs of damage on brain scans, and there was a possible trend toward fewer cases of dementia.
• Be social – That’s right. Add “hang out with friends” and “have fun” to your New Year’s resolutions list. For example, enroll in a dance class with a friend. Alzheimer’s researchers are now looking into whether increased socialization, along with a “cocktail” of lifestyle interventions including improved diet, exercise, cognitive stimulation and self-monitoring of heart health risk can protect cognitive function. The Alzheimer’s Association’s U.S. study to protect brain health through lifestyle intervention to reduce risk (U.S. POINTER) is a two-year clinical trial that hopes to answer this question, and is the first such study to be conducted of a large group of Americans nationwide.

“There’s currently no certain way to prevent Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” said Fink, “but there is much to be gained by living a healthy lifestyle and adopting brain health habits that you enjoy.”

For those with questions about memory loss or personality changes that may be associated with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, the Alzheimer’s Association has a free Helpline staffed 24/7 by trained professional staff members: 800-272-3900.

Alzheimer’s by the numbers:

• More than 6.5 million people in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia in 2022 – 55 million people around the world.
• Nearly 1 person in 9 (10.7%) in the U.S. age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s dementia.
• More than 99,000 Minnesotans and 15,000 North Dakotans are now living with dementia.
• Approximately two-thirds of those living with Alzheimer’s are women.
• People of color are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s: Black Americans are twice as likely as White Americans while Hispanic Americans are 50% more likely when compared to White Americans.