Never Get Dementia?! (Here’s How)

New Year’s Eve looks a lot different this year.

Maybe you’re staying home instead of ringing in the new year with friends and family.

Times Square in New York City looks eerily empty… the first time in 114 years that a crowd isn’t packed in to watch the ball drop.

I’m not sorry to see 2020 in the rearview mirror, but I’m not one to dwell on the past.

I’m looking forward to a bright and hopeful 2021. And I hope the same for my patients in my clinic as well as faithful readers like you.

A lot has changed in the last year.

But as we ring in 2021, something that won’t change is my commitment to bring you the latest studies and information so that you can make informed decisions for your health.

I’ll be talking to you about topics on everyone’s mind—like how to protect yourself from COVID-19 and whether or not you should get the new COVID-19 vaccine.

Plus, I’ll be bringing you cutting-edge research on natural ways to lower blood pressure, fight pain, boost your mood, and so much more.

I’ll start now with a sure-fire way of protecting your brain against dementia.

If you’ve already been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, you’re at a much greater risk of developing dementia.

But it’s not inevitable.

A recent study identified a way to reduce your odds of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia dramatically.

Researchers looked at the health records of nearly 250,000 people who had been diagnosed with MCI, then they questioned them about their exercise habits.

By the end of the follow-up period, here’s what they found out:

• While 8.7 percent of those who DIDN’T exercise had developed dementia…
• Only 4.8 percent of those who exercised more than once a week had developed dementia.

This study showed the protective effects of exercise… but it also showed that it’s never too late to start.

In people who didn’t start exercising until AFTER they received an MCI diagnosis, just 6.3 percent developed Alzheimer’s.

Overall, people who exercised for at least 10 minutes more than once a week had an 18 percent lower risk of developing dementia than those who didn’t exercise.

The more people exercised, the lower their risk of Alzheimer’s.

But the study also showed that you have to keep doing it to gain the benefits of exercise.

People who didn’t exercise before developing MCI had the same risk of developing dementia as those who STOPPED exercising after being diagnosed.

And of course, exercise helps protect your brain even if you haven’t been diagnosed with MCI.

The moral of the story… Exercise can protect your brain—and can specifically help prevent mild cognitive impairment from developing into dementia.

With the New Year starting tomorrow, I can’t think of a better time to make regular movement a part of your daily (or weekly) life.