LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – You may not realize how often you read, work on puzzles or simply go for a walk can benefit your cognitive health for years to come.
A new tool developed by doctors in Las Vegas can let us know if we need to increase those activities. It’s being used by many.
Ivette Fernandez has a new perspective on health and wellness.
“My life has completely changed. I ensure that I get eight or more hours of sleep. When I am stressed out, I am creating boundaries and I have changed my diet,” Fernandez said.
It is these small changes that Fernandez hopes will benefit her brain health in the years to come.
This is because the alternative is a reality she knows all too well.
“We knew there was something wrong with my mother when there were different behavioral changes with my mom,” she said.
Fernandez said her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago, and died in 2021.
“I was so unfamiliar with the disease when my mom was diagnosed which was so devastating for my family,” Fernandez said.
However, she turned that devastation into making a difference in her own life, with the help of the Women’s Prevention Alzheimer’s Program at the Cleveland Clinic – Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
“I didn’t realize that 45% of Alzheimer’s cases could have been prevented that means diet, mental health and well being.”
Her risks were assessed through a tool called Neurocognitive Adaption with 140 questions about the various activities she has done throughout her life.
These range from physical, cognitive, social and creative activities.
Dr. Jessica Caldwell with the Women’s Prevention Alzheimer’s helped develop this tool.
“Years of development went into this tool, I had to administer drafts of this questionnaire to hundreds of people, and refine the measures so we could get the best type of measures across their life span,” Dr. Caldwell said.
We asked Dr. Caldwell why young people should start taking proactive steps, decades before they worry about the risk of getting dementia or Alzheimer’s.
“If someone avoids thinking about Alzheimer’s and it runs in your family what can happen is you lose out on an opportunity to change your behavior and reduce your risk,” Dr. Caldwell said.
Studies have shown women are at a higher risk of developing dementia than men.
“Women have higher risks than men we are at greater risks, but the work that I have done is why women have those higher rates. It ranges from menopause to having different experiences when you go in for an evaluation,” Dr. Caldwell said.
A new report published earlier this year said the cases of dementia will double in the U.S. by 2060.
“That doubling number means if we do not to change behavior that is where we are headed, but we know that up to 45% of cases could be preventable,” Dr. Caldwell said.
Even though this assessment is geared toward women to prevent Alzheimer’s because women have a higher risk, but men can use it too.
The assessment is open to take with the guidance of the doctors at Lou Ruvo Center and they hope it is a tool doctors in other health care systems can use as well.
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