December 2024 Newsletter | Year in Review
My mission is to be the first woman in 4 generations to not develop Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). On my journey of discovering ways to mitigate my risk, I pass this information on to you in this Brain-Body-Health (BBH) Newsletter.
Hello Brain-Body-Health Citizen Scientists!
We began this year by introducing “precision medicine”, a medical model that uses your unique genes, proteins, environment, and lifestyle to tailor medical treatments and interventions. Precision medicine aims to provide the right treatment to the right person at the right time. We returned to this topic in October with the “egg experiment” illustrating the importance of how cholesterol is controlled by various genes as to its breakdown and absorption. It’s not entirely what you eat.
The diversity of our food choices echoed around the holiday table with our annual quilt sisterhood gathering. Our group of 11 artists together for over 30 + years, navigates this territory of genetic/metabolic differences well. Some of us are lactose intolerant, gluten sensitive, or allergic to cumin, red pepper, etc… We overwhelmingly agree, “Yes, we are all on the spectrum…the human spectrum, all similar and different”. The importance of being human and respecting each other’s choices, even though we may not understand why or how builds the muscle of compassion for one another. 😀
By now you know the highest-risk gene for AD is the APOE4. We reviewed the impact of the APOE 4 gene. Read about my family story here. According to Peter Attia MD bestselling author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, it is malpractice to not test for this gene since it portents major health risks for heart disease and dementia. Beginning in 2024, I am recommending those who come into my coaching practice test for the APOE 4 via a simple saliva test from Empower DX - A direct to consumer lab, without the need for an RX from your health care provider.
One of the tenets of BBH dementia prevention is optimizing sensory health: our eyes, hearing, and genitourinary health. Understanding the prevalence and dangerousness of UTIs for women and men with dementia is important, as well as knowing when and when not to treat, as appeared in our February 2024 newsletter. Don’t forget your hearing and eye tests. Congratulations, to some of you who are already trying out your new hearing aids. My sister, 6 years younger, noticed changes in her early 60’s and ordered her aids, tout suite. Several other readers have been trying out new types with a different fit (over the ear or in the canal) and less background noise.
For Women’s History Month, I chose to celebrate a heroine close to my heart, my mother as well as leaders in the field of AD research and treatment. I listed these women who inspire me: Julie Gregory, Maria Shriver, Annie Fenn, and Lisa Mosconi.
“Women make up two-thirds of people living with Alzheimer's Disease…
and we still don’t know why. With risks this steep, why isn’t anyone and everyone talking about this crisis?” – Maria Shriver
Most women are still flabbergasted when I tell them this statistic. BBH focuses on preventing dementia, and yet heart disease is still the number one killer for women and men! Sadly, only 56% of women recognize this fact.
Here is another heroine, Kobie, a quilter in Holland, still plying her trade in her 90’s.
Learning about why our elevated blood glucose (BG) is a major dementia risk led to our experiments with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). So important is our blood sugar regulation that I published three newsletters about it. Check out BBH's April, May, and June issues. Several readers asked for and received prescriptions for a CGM. It’s still in the making, but it looks like the CGM will soon no longer require a prescription. YAY! Another feather in the hat for consumer-driven testing and monitoring.
It is estimated we can cut AD risk by 40% by reducing Type 2 Diabetes.
We walked after we ate and saw our BG reduce in real-time, right on our iPhones. That is the advantage of a CGM. Walking after meals is the new ‘seatbelt’ of protection from AD. Buckle up and ‘walk right out’.
Remember to sleep well: blood sugar increases with reduced sleep.
Hats off to many of you who are cutting down on your sugar in the form of that white and brown stuff, but also reducing fruit juice, and reading labels for sugar and carbohydrate content! Remember my mother’s words-the worst thing you can have for breakfast is orange juice!
Examining the social, political, and economic drivers of the diabetic epidemic was the focus of BBH's June issue.
“Our entire society is perfectly designed to create Type 2 diabetes. . . We have to disrupt that.”
The July conference entitled: ‘The Dementia Dilemma’ was a success in our county. Gathering top resources to help unpack this dilemma helped highlight our county's available needs and available services as well as recent research around whether AD is reversible and what lifestyle factors are key in reducing symptoms.
August marked the culmination of interventions and studies focused on genes that protect against AD and new blood tests for amyloid, tau, and neurofilament light (Nfl).
It felt like an ‘Endless Summer’ for Jim and I, visiting Holland and France. We biked, walked, visited with our Dutch friends Jannieke and Karin, practiced our French, and enjoyed daily espressos, amazing food, art, and music. I am always on the lookout for brain-healthy messages.
Here is a surprise while walking in Maarssen, Holland we discovered this bakery with low-carb bread??
Yep, in Holland, like the rest of Europe, diabetes rates have skyrocketed and cultural habits of eating are changing. Here is a fun car I thought about driving:
(Dutch translation: For control over your fear and peace of mind!)
Knock out Alzheimer’s by giving to this French foundation:
(Saw this at a bus stop in Arles, France)
In November, we discussed the McCance Brain Care Score and the factors that affect this test. It will come as no surprise to our BBH Citizen Scientists that these factors are all included in SLEDSSSS that forms the foundation of BBH! This score will be an important metric for BBH coaching in 2025. Give yourself a gift and take the test at this site.
As we close 2024, I’m looking back to see all we have learned this year. I’m so grateful for your readership and for sharing the Brain-Body-Health Newsletter with others. You are making a difference in your health and the health of others. We work better when we’re together! We are becoming skilled and ready to enter conversations about brain health and what works best for us. I’m looking back while at the same time already looking forward to our continued learning, exploring, and experimenting in ways we can prevent, intervene, and treat AD.
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To optimal health and peace for all!
Subscribe to the email list for news and updates on Body-Brain Health
“If you want to go FAST, go alone. If you want to go FAR, go together."
- African proverb
To our optimized health!