[ALERT!] CDC Releases Shocking Dementia Report
The latest Alzheimer’s statistics are in, and they’re not good.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of dementia deaths has more than TRIPLED over the past 20 years.
And predictions say it’s going to DOUBLE again by 2060.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that there are some easy steps you can take to make sure you don’t become a dementia statistic.
Here’s what you need to know.
Looking a little more closely at this latest report, it showed that in the year 2000, dementia was the primary cause of 80,000 deaths.
By 2017, that number more than tripled to over 260,000 deaths.
Some say that the increase is related to the fact that people are living longer.
Baloney.
In Georgia alone, the rates of dementia jumped 201% since the year 2000. Do you think it’s because so many people in Georgia are living longer…or because of the lifestyle factors of the people who live there?
I’ll let you answer that one.
Sickness and disease are not natural parts of aging – which means you can take steps to prevent it.
And one of the most important ways to keep your brain healthy well into your ripe, old age is to keep your blood vessels healthy.
Many people associate blood vessel health with heart health, but the reality is that those same blood and nutrient highways are just as important for your brain.
In one study, when researchers looked at vascular risk factors (things like hypertension, diabetes, and BMI), all of the factors tied to poor blood vessel health (except cholesterol) were associated brain atrophy and loss of gray and white matter.
This is critical, since most of your brain cells are located in gray matter, and those neurons are what send messages to your body. Impaired neurons lead to slower reactions and slower processing.
And the loss of white matter is tied to thinking slower and reduced executive functioning.
There are plenty of simple, practical ways to protect your vascular health.
One is simply getting regular movement — and that doesn’t mean being a gym rat. Regularly walking for one year has been shown to improve memory performance.
Reduce stress can help protect vascular health.
And getting adequate sleep is essential, too. Not only does poor sleep increase vascular risk factors like high blood pressure, but your brain alsouses sleep time to clean up neurons and synapses, and to help you form lasting memories.
Additional ways to keep your blood pressure low and your vascular health strong is to eat more whole foods, get plenty of morning sunlight, avoid fake light at night, and stay away from electromagnetic fields.