What Can You Do During Your Elder Care Journey to Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease?

Elder Care in New Brunswick NJ

Alzheimer’s disease is something that most family caregiver worry about when it comes to their aging parents. While there are no proven ways to absolutely prevent Alzheimer’s disease, there are things that you can do in your elder care journey with your aging parent to reduce the risk for your senior.

The first step in dealing with the risks of Alzheimer’s disease is understanding those factors that you cannot change. Recognizing that there are some risk factors for the disease that you cannot impact can help you to feel less tense. It can also enable you to put some focus on planning ahead for the even that your loved one does develop the disease rather than just trying to prevent it. The three most pressing factors for the development of Alzheimer’s disease are age, heredity, and genetics. More than ten percent of seniors over the age of 64 have the disease, and by the time that the age range reaches 85, the risk rises to 30 percent. For those who have family members who have the disease or who have certain genetic coding, the risk is even higher.

While there are serious risk factors that you cannot control, there are also ones that you can. Some of the modifications that you and your parent’s elderly health care services provider can make to her care to reduce the risk of developing the disease include:

• Protect her head. There is a link between head trauma and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Any time that your elderly parent is at risk of such trauma, make sure that her head is protected. This includes wearing a seatbelt every time that she is in a car and wearing a helmet if she is involved in activities such as biking. Take steps to reduce the risk of falls in your parent’s home and when out with her
• Keep her heart healthy. New research suggests a strong link between heart health and brain health. Proper blood flow to the brain is critical to keeping the brain healthy and strong, and that starts with a healthy heart. When the heart and blood vessels are damaged, they cannot pump blood efficiently and can increase the risk of cellular death
• Maintain a healthy weight. Keeping the body at a healthy weight is an important part of avoiding a wide range of health concerns. Two of these are high blood pressure and diabetes. Though it is not fully understood, the medical community is finding an increased risk in the development of Alzheimer’s disease among those who have these risk of cardiovascular disease. Helping your loved one achieve and maintain a healthy weight reduces the risk of these particular issues, further lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s disease
• Keep her mind active. Regular mental stimulation and brain exercise helps to ward off cognitive decline, memory loss, and cellular death, and slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease if it does develop. Work with your parent to keep her mind active through a variety of activities including playing games, volunteering in the community, and learning new things regularly.

If you or an aging loved one are considering in-home elder care in New Brunswick NJ, please contact the caring staff at Care Street Home Care of New Brunswick today. Call (732) 607-8870.

 

 

Sources:

https://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_causes_risk_factors.asp#whatyoucando

http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_10_signs_of_alzheimers.asp