Why The Best Time To Think About Brain Health Is NOW

I’m a super fan of the human brain. With 86 billion neurons to it, we owe everything that makes sentient life great. Our art, music, technology, feelings of joy, longing, melancholy -- all are thanks to the three-pound lump of fat sitting quietly behind our eyes. The flagship product of millions of years of evolution, it is (to borrow from a popular meme) much amaze, and so very wow.

Yet it’s under attack. Currently there are 5 million people in the US with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common (but not the only) form of dementia which robs us of the very essence of who we are, and, contrary to popular belief, is not a normal part of aging. That number is expected to triple by 2050. Recently, I’ve become increasingly frustrated by the lack of awareness at just how much control we have over our health outcomes, especially where the brain is concerned.

In August of this year, when Lancet Neurology published a study indicating that 1/3 of all Alzheimer’s cases worldwide may be caused by potentially modifiable risk factors (i.e., could have been prevented), it sounded the alarm that Alzheimer’s prevention was an idea worth taking seriously. Continue reading.

Originally posted on Mind,Body,Green.