"Alzheimer's," she said, running her eyes over the tidy lines of canned goods. "Early onset senility." What else had she come down here to fetch? Mushrooms? Maybe. But, while adding a jar of sliced mushrooms to the collection of cans on the dryer, she knew that wasn't it either.

"Come on, dummy!" she scolded herself. A little niggle of worry jiggled at the back of her mind. Maybe her memory was going and, if so, what next? The thought of becoming as helpless as her grandfather had been, like a child in his habits and a blank slate in his comprehension, frightened her more than she cared to admit.

She stood with her eyes closed and imagined herself back in the kitchen, planning dinner, and mentally reviewed Grammy Erma's chili recipe, checking each item against the ones she'd already assembled before running up against that worrisome and annoying black hole in her memory. Even after Grampy forgot his wife's name, he loved her chili. Did senility run in families or was it bad luck?

"Nothing I can do about it, anyway." If Alzheimer's were in her future, fretting about it wouldn't change a thing. But an inner voice pleaded, 'Not me. Not me.'

The linoleum chilled her feet through her thick socks, making her wish for slippers. Finally, she sighed and collected the ingredients, resigned to making one more trip down the stairs before being able to start supper.

Not that the stairs bothered her, but the forgetting had. 'Oh, well,' she thought. She probably would have remembered everything easily if the cat hadn't overturned the vase... "AH!" she exploded the syllable, as much from the relief of recollection as the feeling of a job completed. She grabbed a roll of paper towels, the last of which she had used mopping up the spilt water, and trotted up the steps, smiling.

The woman in the story, by instinct or training, did several things right. She visualized her recipe, she recreated her environment mentally, and she retraced her steps in her imagination. These are all powerful memory enhancement tools. One's ability of recollection can be strengthened using such 'cheats' and 'tricks'. List making, journaling, establishing habits, storing items consistently, and tagging important reading material for easy retrieval can make huge differences in apparent memory skills. Another is to recognize that people do misplace and forget things on a regular basis. Neither is a symptom, usually. A teenager blames distraction when losing her keys, but an adult, like the woman cooking chili, blames her failure on her memory and worries.

Both the blame and the worry are premature. More importantly, her statement that there is nothing to be done to prevent Alzheimer's could be incorrect.

Severe and progressive memory loss, once thought to be associated with normal aging, has now been subdivided into separate and distinct disease states. Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Age-Associated Memory Impairment (AAMI) have been determined to have diagnostically different symptoms and prognoses.

Occasionally forgetting a name, misplacing an item, or failing to pick something up at the grocery characterizes normal impairment. These people are completely capable of carrying out the functions of everyday life with minimal outside support.

Memory loss associated with MCI is more persistent and interferes with remembering important facts even after repeated attempts. Daily living can be managed but lists, timers, and outside assistance are often required. Most MCI suffers tend to get worse, but not all. A significant percentage will develop AD as they age.

Patients with AD, generally, lose the cognitive abilities necessary to live alone.

Risk factors include head trauma, female gender, and age. Genetics plays a role only in about 10% of the cases that develop early, in the sixties instead of the late seventies and eighties.

If no effective treatment, prevention, or cure is found, there will be 14 million Americans with AD by the year 2040. The present cost to society for the 4 million already suffering this malady is about $100 billion dollars annually. The toll on loved ones is incalculable.

There are glimmers of expectation. Following clinical models, such as the one provided by coronary disease, for preventive measures that include elements of complimentary and conventional medicine, science is making headway by attacking the problem in a more holistic manner.

A small study suggests that prevention is possible, even if a cure is not feasible. The subjects, after a rigorous and thorough medical examination, began individualized treatment regimes.

What may be the most exciting finding is the suggestion that anyone can institute many of these simple preventative measures and reap the benefits.

Nutrition: The patients ate foods low in fat, moderate in protein, and high in complex carbohydrates. The diet reduced calorie intake as per earlier studies indicating that good nutrition enhances cognition. Several other studies suggest that consuming an occasional alcoholic beverage may also be preventive.

Supplements: B complex vitamins are essential for optimal neurological health. Multivitamins, including Vitamins A, E and C, trace minerals like selenium and zinc, and neuroactive compounds, such as phosphatidyl serine (PS), CoEnzyme Q-10, and acetyl L carnitine were introduced into the daily treatment plan. Most of these substances have been researched previously and have shown some positive results in memory enhancement.

Herbs: Ginkgo Biloba, an antioxidant, has proven to be helpful in statistically improving concentration and short-term memory in a limited number of people.

Pharmaceuticals: Drugs that increase dopamine in the brain, and inhibit oxidative damage from free radicals may improve outcomes on a case-to-case basis. Other medications, with various physiological properties, are being researched and some show promise in animal or clinical trials.

DHEA: AD patients consistently exhibit decreased levels of DHEA. Replacement may increase nerve receptivity and hippocampus function.

Mental Training: Doing word puzzles, discussing the headlines, participating in music and art appreciation groups, studying new interests and learning new skills, as in crafts and handiwork, stimulate cognitive abilities.

Exercise: Stretching, yoga and meditation, light aerobics, walking, and swimming increased blood and oxygen flow in the brain as well as the rest of the body.

The combination of traditional and holistic measures improved the cognitive abilities of most test patients. In others the progression, sometimes rapid, of memory dysfunction was greatly slowed or completely halted.

Nearly all the subjects reported an improvement in relative quality of life and a feeling of satisfaction. Many described a greater connection to their spiritual natures and a resurgence of hope - the most effective drug.

A dose of that is a blessing for any ailment.

References:

Reverse Your Memory Loss, A. Underwood and R. Watson, Reader's Digest, March 2002

Memory Loss: New Developments in the Prevention and Reversal of Memory Loss, Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD

NIA News (several articles)

Train Your Mind

Alzheimer's Disease at Biopsychiatry.com