A healthy lifestyle does more than just keep your body strong, it also plays a role in maintaining an active mind. Those were the words of Steve Raymond on Dec. 11 when he was guest lecturer at The Community Center’s “Lunch and Learn” series. 

Raymond spoke about delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s and other dementia-related diseases. Raymond has nearly four decades of caring for a variety of patients, first as a nurse in California, and now as the Lincoln Home’s community outreach director. He shared his knowledge he developed working with seniors and through his own research.

In the 1980s, Raymond believed a treatment for Alzheimer’s would be found. He had worked as a nurse in southern California, in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and thought research would produce a breakthrough for dementia in a similar fashion. “AIDS was once a death sentence, but now it’s a chronically managed disease. I thought the same would happen with Alzheimer’s, but sadly, not a lot of breakthroughs have occurred.”

Raymond reported by age 65, one in eight seniors contracts Alzheimer’s, and by 85, it grows to one out of two. There is no cure or treatment for cognitive diseases, but there is research showing how to possibly delay its onset. As more theories emerge, Raymond has embraced one as possibly leading to how cognitive diseases develop in the brain. In his lecture, Raymond discussed the research of Dr. Dale Bredesen, an expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. “His research is a real paradigm shifter. Dr. Bredesen believes there are as many as 36 causes of the disease, not just one. His research shows amyloid is produced in the brain. It’s removed during deep sleep, so if a person’s sleep is being disturbed, the process is interrupted, and places them at greater risk.”

Besides sleep, two other factors are important in delaying dementia-related diseases: Diet and exercise. Raymond encouraged audience members to embrace a healthy lifestyle at an early age. He reported research shows dementia begins around age 45 and slowly takes hold of the body. He believes a healthy lifestyle makes a senior feel better longer and it will also save them money. “People who aren’t active sink into despair and it has a real impact on their health. If you work longer then you are staying engaged with others longer and that’s been found to improve your cognitive health, too, which may keep you out of a long term care facility, saving you tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. 

During the question and answer period, one audience member asked if a parent had Alzheimer’s Disease would that make a child more predisposed. Raymond responded there was an Alzheimer gene, but lifestyle was a greater factor in predictability.