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Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

smithsonianmag.com

71–80 of 92 posts

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you stop using your phone for anything other than communicating (yes, not just the loose "stop doomscrolling" advice) a lot of these will come naturally. It will lead you to using a real alarm clock and not using your phone after going to bed, which will make your sleep schedule that much more consistent, and also improve quality of sleep. These will probably give you more motivation, which you'll need because the…

> These will probably give you more motivation, which you'll need because the time you used to waste on the phone now needs to be occupied by a real hobby, and here comes language learning, chess, music, etc. Man, that "probably" is doing a ton of heavy lifting.

> Man, that "probably" is doing a ton of heavy lifting.

I think "giving you motivation" isn't the right way to frame it, but "probably" isn't doing heavy lifting. More like providing the affordance that wasn't there because the phone took it away and convinced you that you didn't need. Like a typical drug addiction or pretending you don't need to make friends because you have colleagues.

People are spending the amount of extra time on their phone every day that it takes to raise kids, so if you've never figured out how to allocate that time effectively, it's a good place to start.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#72

My mother had Alzheimer's for 20 years. I would not recommend it for more than 10 years no matter how healthy you are. I have one copy of the APOE4 gene and am ~40lbs overweight and probably drink too much, and will definitely double my weight and triple my alcohol consumption if I get it. I have always said the heathier you are when you begin to die, the longer it takes to die.

You begin to die when you are born.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you stop using your phone for anything other than communicating (yes, not just the loose "stop doomscrolling" advice) a lot of these will come naturally. It will lead you to using a real alarm clock and not using your phone after going to bed, which will make your sleep schedule that much more consistent, and also improve quality of sleep. These will probably give you more motivation, which you'll need because the…

But how to do that?

At the risk of being simplistic and reductive... you just... stop.

Unless it's calling or texting, what you do via phone can almost always be done on a computer/laptop. Allot a certain time of your day/week for handling life shit via a desktop or laptop, and a certain time of the day/week for reading news. Limit it to just that timeframe, and try to keep that timeframe small. Avoid social media as much as you can within that.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#74

My mother had Alzheimer's for 20 years. I would not recommend it for more than 10 years no matter how healthy you are. I have one copy of the APOE4 gene and am ~40lbs overweight and probably drink too much, and will definitely double my weight and triple my alcohol consumption if I get it. I have always said the heathier you are when you begin to die, the longer it takes to die.

I had 2 grandparents die from Parkinson's and I would definitely pick up heroin addiction if I get diagnosed.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#75

How many times do we need to hear "exercise and healthy eating" prolong life and improve cognitive function?

The more important question appears to be why it seems to difficult to follow the advice? Personally, I'm well aware of the positive effects of drinking plenty of water, eating vegetables, exercising daily, and going to bed early. However, I buy myself a chocolate bar every day, love pizza, just want to unwind after a hard day at work, and still read Reddit late into the night. All the healthy stuff has friction: a w…

Because it takes effort, but once it becomes a habit, it's fine.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#76

> Schott also notes that the clinical trial didn’t include a control group of participants who got no guidance and made no lifestyle changes. This makes it hard for researchers to pinpoint which aspect of the program might have been responsible for the positive effect. However, Heather M. Snyder, senior vice president for medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association, tells the New York Times that t…

If you have access to statistics for the general population, you can forego the control group, I would think. But that requires doing the study in a country with a well run health care system and properly regulated medical records so that you can get these stats without privacy issues. (Glances in Denmark's general direction.. )

You can also use Canada, with the exception of access to medical records, to minimize all of the differences between populations in the USA and the control group.

Denmark has a very different vaccination schedule because they have exposure to many fewer "childhood diseases." Might seem like a small difference given the availability of 'properly regulate medical records without privacy issues" but these sorts of differences add up.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#77
post #67
post #8

Structured lifestyle intervention. Participants attended 38 facilitated peer team meetings over two years and were provided with a prescribed activity program with measurable goals for: - aerobic, resistance and stretching exercise - adherence to the MIND diet, a combination of the Mediterranean diet with the salt restrictions of the DASH diet - cognitive challenge through BrainHQ training and other intellectual and…

Just BrainHQ training alone would likely increase the scores. The rest is general health management.

"General health" has been shown to affect cognitive performance.

Especially when you are including sleep and diet in "general health"

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#78
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just BrainHQ training alone would likely increase the scores. The rest is general health management.

"General health" has been shown to affect cognitive performance. Especially when you are including sleep and diet in "general health"

It sure does. I just recently had to switch to 'healthy' diet. Positive effect in many ways. Including clear thinking, focus and performance. But, there is nothing new here.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently a lot. Between 2021 and 2023 the US obesity rate was 40%+.

Instead of berating people or repeating messages over and over, let's focus on getting GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonists into as many people's hands as possible.

lol yeah let’s fund more pharma bull shit and kick the can for actually solving the problem. More CEOs need yachts. Diet education and curbing the corps poisoning us is far more effective.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#80
post #74

My mother had Alzheimer's for 20 years. I would not recommend it for more than 10 years no matter how healthy you are. I have one copy of the APOE4 gene and am ~40lbs overweight and probably drink too much, and will definitely double my weight and triple my alcohol consumption if I get it. I have always said the heathier you are when you begin to die, the longer it takes to die.

I had 2 grandparents die from Parkinson's and I would definitely pick up heroin addiction if I get diagnosed.

Should give weed a try first. For some it really helps
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