Keeping Your Brain Sharp
I rarely talk to someone who doesn’t know someone who has dementia. The numbers are stagering- each year more than 10 million people are diagnosed with dementia and by 2050 Bright Focus Foundation estimates 152 million people worldwide will have dementia. The good news is many research studies have now shown dementia is preventable and reversible. If you want to learn more about the lifestyle changes you can make to keep your brain sharp listen to Can Alzheimer’s Be Prevented? Proven Lifestyle Shifts That Protect Your Brain.
Many factors and lifestyle choices can lower our dementia risk like moving our bodies and walking, managing our blood sugar, eating real food, and limiting toxins, seed oils and other things we put in or on our body but as the weather is getting cooler, I wanted note that some over the counter medications (and many prescription medications) are known anticholinergics (they block the action of the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine) and as author Bruce Fife, ND notes in his book Stop Alzheimer’s Now, “It has been known for some time that people with dementia should not be given anticholinergic drugs because their symptoms worsen. Even those with normal cognitive skills can be adversely affected.”
There are many drugs that are anticholinergic but a few to note are medications that are used for allergies and colds, medications used for sleep, used for GERD. some pain killers and more.
Why does this matter? Because we often take medications or give them to a loved one, especially over the counter medication, and do not realize that the more we take a particular medication or several medications it may be contributing to cognitive decline. If you want to inform yourself there is an entire chapter in Stop Alzheimer’s Now that goes into detail about which drugs could be harmful to your brain.
Also, check out the content by Dr. Clint Steele on preventing and reversing Dementia on Instagram here.
