Defeating Dementia by Richard Furman, MD, FACS

What you can do to prevent Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia

So I got this book a bit skeptically. It's not my style of reading, even though I am a nurse and it probably should be. Anyone who knows me really well knows I can be the biggest skeptic if there's anything like a cure all or fix it diet or medication or herb or additive or whatever. But hey, it was a free book, so why not try it? I mean everyone knows you can't do anything to prevent Alzheimer's, so let's see what the latest idea is now.

And am I glad I did, because I was wrong. I had no idea that there had been this kind of extensive research done on Alzheimer's and what seems to be causing it. There really is not a full understanding of Alzheimer's. Scientists know how the brain looks when it has Alzheimer's, they can see the results of it, they can even start to see the start of it, (happening years, up to 30, before any symptoms show up), but the whole etiology of the disease is still murky. But, what research as showed us is that there are things people do that seem to greatly reduce their chances of developing Alzheimer's and the research seems solid and it seems normal. It actually comes back to my oft stated comment about disease, water and exercise solves everything. It's not quite accurate here, but diet and exercise might!!

40, 48, and 67 are three numbers Dr Furman wants us to remember. "Those who ate the healthy diet had a 40 percent less likelihood of developing Alzheimer's dementia than those who ate the poor diet." "Those who exercised the most had a 48 percent lower risk for Alzheimer's dementia than those who weren't active." "The people who exercised the most and ate the healthy diet, had a 67 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's"  That is fascinating information.  One phrase he repeated often throughout the book was, "If it's good for the heart, it's good for the brain."  What research seems to be showing is that the same risk factors that cause plaque build up in the vessels of the heart, causes plaque build up in the brain, which can cause silent strokes and maybe messes with the blood brain barrier. I'm not going to get into all the specifics, go read the book.

The book was informative and interesting to read. It did get a little repetitive, but that is also how things stick.  It definitely makes me look at my diet and exercise a bit differently again, though I still don't know how I could ever weigh what he recommends that I weigh.

I received this book from Revell Books and was not required to write a positive review.