by National Institute on Aging

Alzheimer’s disease affects millions of Americans and is a leading cause of death in the United States. It’s important to distinguish the facts from the myths about Alzheimer’s, especially when it comes to finding information online. Read on to learn about common myths surrounding this disease.

Myth 1: Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are the same thing.

Understanding Different Types of Dementia infographic. Click to open webpage

Share this infographic and help spread the word about understanding different types of dementia.

People often use the terms Alzheimer’s and dementia interchangeably, but there is a difference. Dementia refers generally to conditions that lead to impaired memory, thinking, reasoning, and behavior, and Alzheimer’s is just one type of dementia. The terms are likely confused because Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia and the most well-known. Other types of dementia include Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and vascular dementia.

Learn more about Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

Myth 2: I will develop Alzheimer’s disease if my parent has it.

If a parent or close relative has Alzheimer’s, you may be worried about developing it as you get older. A person’s chance of developing Alzheimer’s is higher if they have certain genetic variants that can be passed down from a parent. However, in most cases, just because a biological parent has Alzheimer’s does not mean their children will develop it.

Alzheimer’s is complex, and scientists don’t yet fully understand what causes it in most people. Research suggests that in most individuals, a host of factors beyond genetics play a role in the development and course of the disease. Environmental and lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet, exposure to pollutants, and smoking may also affect a person’s risk for Alzheimer’s. Although we don’t yet know how to prevent the disease, it’s important to practice healthy behaviors throughout your lifetime, such as exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet.

Myth 3: Only people in their 70s and older develop Alzheimer’s disease.

While the greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer’s is age, this does not mean that only older adults develop it. For most people with Alzheimer’s, it’s true that symptoms first appear in their mid-60s or beyond. However, some people experience symptoms earlier, even as young as in their 30s. When a person develops Alzheimer’s between their 30s and mid-60s, it’s called early-onset Alzheimer’s. Early-onset Alzheimer’s is rare — representing less than 10% of people with the disease. Developing Alzheimer’s earlier in life can present specific challenges. People diagnosed at younger ages are more likely to be raising children or working outside the home, or both.

Many people living with Down syndrome, a genetic condition, will also develop Alzheimer’s at an earlier age and may begin to show symptoms in their 40s.

Myth 4: Alzheimer’s disease symptoms are normal as we get older.

Many people become more forgetful as they age, and some forgetfulness, such as losing things from time to time, is normal. However, common signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s, such as making poor judgments and decisions a lot of the time, having problems recognizing friends and family, or losing track of the date or time of year are not a normal part of aging.

If you are worried about your memory or other possible Alzheimer’s symptoms, talk with your doctor. The doctor may ask questions about your health history, perform assessments of your thinking and memory, and conduct medical tests to determine your diagnosis.

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Caregiving can be overwhelming, especially when you’re starting out. Take a deep breath! Then tackle one task at a time.

First, assess your loved one’s needs. What types of help are needed? Ask family members and friends to share tasks. Look for resources in your community, such as home health care or adult day care centers. The Eldercare Locator can help you find in-home help; transportation; resources to install ramps, grab bars, or other home modifications; and other resources in your area. It can also help you learn about options for paying for care.

My mother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Her doctor recommended we make plans now for her future while she is still well enough to tell us what she prefers. My sister and I agree, but how do we start?

It can be helpful to know where your loved one’s important papers are stored so you can find them when you need them. Getting Your Affairs in Order has a list of legal, financial, and personal records you’ll want to locate and organize.

Another tip: Get formal permission from your loved one to talk with his or her lawyer, bank, and healthcare providers in advance. Many of these institutions have their own forms that must be signed with your loved one’s consent.

How can I help my older parents from afar?

If you live an hour or more away from a person who needs care, you are a long-distance caregiver. There are a number of jobs you can take on even if you live far away. You can arrange and coordinate care in the person’s home or long-term care facility, help with finances, organize legal and financial paperwork, or help make the home safer. You can also research local resources and learn how to make the most of your limited time when you visit an older relative far away.

Most people tend to focus on one type of exercise or activity and think they’re doing enough. Research has shown that it’s important to get all four types of exercise: endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility. Each one has different benefits. Doing one kind also can improve your ability to do the others, and variety helps reduce boredom and risk of injury. No matter your age, you can find activities that meet your fitness level and needs!

Endurance activities, often referred to as aerobic, increase your breathing and heart rates. These activities help keep you healthy, improve your fitness, and help you perform the tasks you need to do every day. Endurance exercises improve the health of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. They also can delay or prevent many diseases that are common in older adults such as diabetes, colon and breast cancers, heart disease, and others. Physical activities that build endurance include:

Brisk walking or jogging
Yard work (mowing, raking)
Dancing
Swimming
Biking
Climbing stairs or hills
Playing tennis or basketball

Increase your endurance or “staying power” to help keep up with your grandchildren during a trip to the park, dance to your favorite songs at a family wedding, and rake the yard and bag up leaves. Build up to at least 150 minutes of activity a week that makes you breathe hard. Try to be active throughout your day to reach this goal and avoid sitting for long periods of time.

Your muscular strength can make a big difference. Strong muscles help you stay independent and make everyday activities feel easier, like getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, and carrying groceries. Keeping your muscles strong can help with your balance and prevent falls and fall-related injuries. You are less likely to fall when your leg and hip muscles are strong. Some people call using weight to improve your muscle strength “strength training” or “resistance training.”

Some people choose to use weights to help improve their strength. If you do, start by using light weights at first, then gradually add more. Other people use resistance bands, stretchy elastic bands that come in varying strengths. If you are a beginner, try exercising without the band or use a light band until you are comfortable. Add a band or move on to a stronger band (or more weight) when you can do two sets of 10 to 15 repetitions easily. Try to do strength exercises for all of your major muscle groups at least 2 days per week, but don’t exercise the same muscle group on any 2 days in a row. Below are a few examples of strength exercises:

Lifting weights
Carrying groceries
Gripping a tennis ball
Overhead arm curl
Arm curls
Wall push-ups
Lifting your body weight
Using a resistance band

Experience the fun of learning this Spring! Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, OLLI, at California State University Channel Islands announces new classes beginning January 22, 2024. Registration opens January 8, 2024.

The courses will explore American Power and the Legacy of the Greatest Generation along with an opportunity to take a look into the American Civics 101: A Crash Course.

Are you in love with your automobile-car? Explore the history of the single most important object in American life: the automobile. And, if there is a song in your heart, explore the songs and times of the great songwriters of stage and screen.

Yarning to travel? Be an armchair traveler to see the beauty and fascinating culture of the Baltic Countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Then sharpen your memory and reasoning skills for years to come. Participate in the “Brain Training” class.

The six-week courses start January 22nd. Registration opens January 8th.

Learn more and see the entire catalogue of classes at: go.csuci.edu/olli or call 805-437-2748 for more class information.

Experience the joy of learning with OLLI. Curiosity never retires.

by National Institute of Health

While a workplace intervention designed to reduce health risks did not help everyone in a randomized controlled trial, older adults and those already at risk did experience benefits. The findings were consistent among participants in two different industries: information technology and long-term care. The NIH-funded study tested whether increased workplace flexibility and supervisor support would reduce risk factors for heart disease or diabetes. The results were published in the American Journal of Public Health.

People spend a large fraction of their lives in the workplace, yet there have been relatively few studies examining the influence of changes in workplace practices on health. With the prevalence of family-friendly policies increasing in U.S. workplaces, NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened an interdisciplinary team of researchers to form the Work, Family & Health Network. To better understand how workplace practices and policies affect work, family life, and health outcomes, the team conducted the Work, Family & Health Study, a multisite, randomized controlled trial.

The study intervention lasted 12 weeks and included supervisor training focused on increasing supportive work-family behaviors and ways to modify practices and interactions between employees and their supervisors. It also included employee and manager training to identify new work practices to increase employees’ control over work time and to help reduce low-value tasks. Trainings were based on STAR (Support.Transform.Achieve.Results.) toolkits, which include face-to-face and role-playing session guidance as well as materials and scripts for activities to reinforce the sessions.

The intervention did not have a significant effect on either of the two industry groups as a whole. However, the researchers also looked at subgroups of workers in the study. Those results showed that participants with higher baseline risk, particularly older workers, experienced significant risk reductions. Risk was calculated by looking at biomarkers such as blood pressure, body mass index, tobacco use, and cholesterol. The study found consistent results across two very different types of workplaces and the intervention appeared easy to implement.

If you have an advance care plan in place, you may find yourself wondering whether your loved ones also have a plan. Knowing what matters most to them can help you honor their wishes, more easily navigate future medical decisions, and give you peace of mind.

Here are some ways you might start the conversation:

“I love you and wouldn’t want to do anything you didn’t agree with. It would make me feel better, though, if I knew what was important to you. Will you tell me what matters most to you if you were ever too sick to speak for yourself?”

After a movie or news story that touches on end-of-life issues: “What would you want us to do if you were in this situation?”

Remind them of an experience with someone at the end of life: “Remember when Grandma died?” Ask how they felt about it and what they would want for themselves.

Try to avoid talking about specific medical treatments or decisions, which may be scary and overwhelming. Instead, ask about concerns they have and if there is someone they trust to make decisions for them.

How to serve as a health care proxy:

• If you have agreed to be someone’s health care proxy, consider these tips:
• Ask about their current and future health concerns
• Have conversations about ACP every year and as major life changes happen
• Get a copy of their advance directive forms and other important information, like contacts for doctors and family members

Remember, you do not need to be a health care proxy to support a person as they make advance care plans. Any family-member or friend can help their loved one think through their health care decisions and advocate for their wishes. For recommendations, explore Advance Care Planning Tips for Caregivers and Families.

Behavioral & Social Research

Higher occupational work complexity is associated with better cognition later in life, according to two recent NIA-funded studies published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Previous research has indicated that people with complex jobs have better cognitive function as they age and a lower risk of dementia. Both of the two new studies built on these findings by exploring multiple forms of occupational complexity and cognitive outcomes. Occupational complexity with “data, people, and things” was classified using the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, which catalogs the type of work activities involved in different occupations. Examples of jobs with high complexity in each of these areas include a data analyst, a social worker, and a watch repairman, respectively. Education, self-reported as the highest level of education completed, was statistically accounted for as it could indicate prior cognitive abilities before entering the workforce.

In the first study, researchers from Indiana University and collaborating institutions analyzed data from 355 older adults enrolled in the Social Networks in Alzheimer’s Disease study. The scientists examined participants’ neuropsychological test results, neuroimaging data, employment history, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia diagnoses. Most participants, age 70 on average, were retired and no longer working in their longest-held job. The researchers found complex work with people was associated with better memory, a decreased risk of MCI or dementia, and greater brain reserve — the gap between brain atrophy and poor cognitive function. After accounting for education, complexity with data or things was not associated with any cognitive outcome. These findings suggest that exposure to cognitive enrichment at work, especially via social interaction, may improve cognitive outcomes and increase cognitive resilience to neuropathology. However, a limitation of the study is that the participants were not a diverse sample.

In the other study, researchers from Kaiser Permanente Northern California; University of California, San Francisco; and collaborative institutions also looked at occupational complexity and cognition, specifically in a racially and ethnically diverse sample. Researchers interviewed 1,536 participants, average age of 76 years, in the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences study, which consists of approximately equal numbers of Asian, Black, Latino, and White older adults. Three interview cycles were completed over an average of about two and a half years to measure initial cognition and change over time.

In line with the first study, higher occupational complexity with people was associated with better performance on cognitive measures. However, contrary to that study, higher occupational complexity with data was also found to be associated with better cognitive outcomes and a slower annual rate of cognitive decline. Differences in the methodologies between the two studies may contribute to this inconsistency, but further research is needed. Of note, a greater proportion of Black and Latino participants were categorized in jobs with lowest complexity for working with data and people.

These two studies add to an increasing body of research demonstrating that intellectually stimulating activities during midlife, such as complex work environments, may be associated with better cognitive outcomes among older adults. It’s important to note that the Dictionary of Occupational Titles assigns scores according to job titles and does not capture individual variability within the same title. Further research to better understand the pathways through which different types of occupational complexity affect cognition in later life could help to create work environments that promote cognitive health and health equity.

This research was supported in part by NIA grants.

Simple adjustments can go a long way toward building a healthier eating pattern. Follow these tips to get the most out of foods and beverages while meeting your nutrient needs and reducing the risk of disease:

Enjoy a variety of foods from each food group to help reduce the risk of developing diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Choose foods with little to no added sugar, saturated fats, and sodium.

To get enough protein throughout the day and maintain muscle, try adding seafood, dairy, or fortified soy products along with beans, peas, and lentils to your meals. Learn more about protein and other important nutrients.

Add sliced or chopped fruits and vegetables to meals and snacks. Look for pre-cut varieties if slicing and chopping are a challenge for you.

Try foods fortified with vitamin B12, such as some cereals, or talk to your doctor about taking a B12 supplement. Learn more about key vitamins and minerals.

Reduce sodium intake by seasoning foods with herbs and citrus such as lemon juice.

Drink plenty of water throughout the day to help stay hydrated and aid in the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. Avoid sugary drinks.

It can be hard for some people to follow through on smart food choices. Read about common roadblocks and how to overcome them and check out the USDA’s tips for older adults.

Eating habits can change as we grow older. The USDA has developed Food Patterns to help people understand different ways they can eat healthy. The food patterns include:

Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern: This is based on the types of foods Americans typically consume. The main types of food in this eating pattern include a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy, seafood, poultry, and meat, as well as eggs, nuts, seeds, and soy products. Check out this sample menu to get started.

Healthy Mediterranean-Style Eating Pattern: This one contains more fruits and seafood and less dairy than the Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern.

Healthy Vegetarian Eating Pattern: This pattern contains no meat, poultry, or seafood, but does contain fat-free or low-fat dairy. Compared with the Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern, it contains more soy products, eggs, beans and peas, nuts and seeds, and whole grains.