>> on the cover Memory Loss Keeping Alzheimer's at bay through diet, exercise and brain stimulation. I Ruthan Brodsky Special e Jewish News .• :4 11 ■ 1 - • Micki Pelzner Lipshaw paints at the Brown Center as her daughter Susan Stettner watches CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The number of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is expected to triple by 2050, according to research based on U.S. Census Bureau data. That means 14 million Americans will be identified as having AD in less than 40 years. These numbers are pri- marily the result of greater longevity among Baby Boomers. Gary Small, M.D., described this trend as "successful longevity" at the Novi Fox Run campus in February when he spoke there about his book, The Alzheimer's Prevention Program (Workman Publishing, 2012). "Prevention is not a cure Small explained. "Prevention is using lifestyle strategies that promote brain health that are essential for quality longevity. Brain health includes more than memory. If your brain is healthy, you can think, make right decisions, be physically healthy, maintain your memory and stay focused. The preven- tion program, described in the book, helps people delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease symptoms. "Although there is no way to actually prevent AD, it is possible to delay it and increase the number of years without dementia: Small said. He says there is strong evidence that exer- cise is the right lifestyle choice associated with Alzheimer's prevention. A recent study in the journal Neurology supports that the- ory and suggests working out can be more 10 April 18 • 2013 Book Helps Kids Cope With Alzheimer's Hugging Grandma, written by Zina Kramer, was written to help families explain memory disorders to chil- dren. Kramer provides specific and effective ways for children to main- tain a relationship with their rela- tive. For information, contact Nelson Publishing & Marketing (www. nelsonpublishingandmarketing.com ). The book is illustrated for children. Sylvia Perlman and her daughter Zina Kramer, who found assistance for her mother's Alzheimer's through the Jewish community. effective at protecting the brain than cogni- tive challenges such as games and puzzles (although they do have some benefit). In the study, a group of 700 participants born in 1936, who participated in physical activity, showed less brain shrinkage and fewer white matter lesions, both of which can be signs of AD, than the group that didn't exercise. Dr. Gary Small The conclusion makes sense because physical activity helps promote a healthy heart, and the well-being of the heart and brain are interrelated. An unhealthy heart isn't as effi- cient at pumping blood and oxygen, which the brain requires. One theory presented at the Alzheimer's Association's International Conference in July 2012 suggested that strength training could be the best exercise intervention. Another study showed that women between ages 70 and 80 who used weights showed the most improvement. In general, those participants who started with a higher cognitive baseline actually gained the most benefits from exercise. Another new study, published in the Archives of Neurology, found that people who kept their brains active most of their lives by reading, writing, completing cross- word puzzles or playing challenging games were less likely to develop brain plaques associated with AD. In other words, stimu- lating your mind at an early age may do more to help your brain than starting chess once you retire. People in the study who recently took up crossword puzzles did not see added benefit. Small feels strongly that we do have the ability to influence our future brain health. He writes that "science has shown that genetics, our hereditary predisposition for Alzheimer's disease, accounts for only part of our risk. Lifestyle choices may have an even greater impact. Therefore, we have more control than we think:' Diagnosing Dementia "The word 'senility' simply means getting older and does not have the same mean- ing as the word dementia," explained Rhonna Shatz, D.O., Clayton Alandt Chair of Behavioral Neurology at Henry Ford Health System. "Dementia is not inevitable as you age. "More frequently, there are abnormal brain pathologies that take place in the brain that indicate that a person may be at risk for dementia: Shatz said. "Yet there are people who live to an old age with a high burden of these brain pathologies, enough to meet pathologic criteria for Alzheimer's, who