About 10,000 people in Wyoming have Alzheimer’s disease, and those numbers will likely only increase as our state’s population ages. But recent research shows some lifestyle changes can help reduce or mitigate the risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other dementia in the future.
The Alzheimer's Association’s Wyoming Chapter shared some tips on ways to advocate for your brain health in the new year, along with resources like “Ten Healthy Habits For Your Brain” and “Ten Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.”
Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann talked with the nonprofit’s executive director, Debra Antista-Bianchi, and Dr. Martha Stearn, an internal medicine specialist who runs the Geriatiric Health Connections Program at the St. John’s Hospital in Jackson.
Editor’s Note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Hannah Habermann: What are some simple steps people can take to protect their brain in the new year?
Dr. Martha Stearn: There are some what we call pillars of prevention. One is regular exercise, aerobic exercise. People know that exercise is okay, but they're not quite sure what aerobic means and why that's important. I might talk to a patient who walks his dog 15 minutes twice a day. That's great that you're getting that kind of exercise and you are getting 30 minutes, but there's something about the continuous 30 minutes of exercise that makes a difference.
Another is diet, primarily a plant-based diet.
Probably another equally important pillar to exercise is sleep. You have to bust a lot of myths about sleep, like some people brag about how they only need five hours of sleep or you could sleep when you die. Actually, about seven to eight hours of sleep is what's been documented to be very healthy for the body and especially for the brain.
HH: When I was looking at this list, there was something that really stood out to me. Can you talk a little bit about how hearing aids can help slow cognitive decline?
Debra Antista-Bianchi: We've long known that unattended hearing loss is a risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease and other dementia. And it makes sense, because we know social engagement and being involved in all the things in your life and your world are really important for your brain health.
If you're not wearing your hearing aids, you're kind of not participating, and that's not really good for your brain health. What was interesting about the research back in 2023 on this was that what they found was that even for those folks who had an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or another dementia, when they wore their hearing aids, they had reduced incidences.
I thought that was so compelling. My husband, who's retired law enforcement and had a SWAT event several decades ago, has hearing aids. I literally walked out of that session and said to him, ‘You put those hearing aids in.’
HH: What are some other lifestyle changes folks might be able to make to reduce this risk of developing Alzheimer's or other dementia? What else would you point to?
MS: Stress reduction is huge. Socialization and learning new things are other things you can do to help your brain.
I also talk about stopping things that harm your brain, such as alcohol. At Rush University, they're doing a big study on alcohol in the brain. They're doing volume studies of the brain and finding that even an occasional drink can cause shrinkage of the brain.
HH: There was another study that really caught my attention, especially after all the big fires in Wyoming this last summer. There's this link between wildfire smoke and cognitive health, and I'm curious if you could tell me a little more about this and what people can do at home to protect themselves from smoke.
DAB: In the Alzheimer's Association's International Conference, the research that was read out on wildfire smoke in particular was interesting, because what they found was those particles related to wildfire smoke can cross that brain barrier differently. Your brain is more vulnerable to wildfire smoke than even other environmental toxins, like air pollution and so on.
It’s so important that when those fires are happening, that we take some steps to prevent our exposure to that harm. That's going to be things like changing the air filtration system, wearing a mask and being really proactive about getting away from it, if you have the ability to.
If you can't leave where you're at, where there's so much smoke, maybe just limiting your time outside. And when you are outside, wearing a [N-95] mask and really helping to reduce that exposure.
HH: Zooming out a little bit, what are some misconceptions or confusion about Alzheimer's or dementia that you run into consistently in your work?
DAB: The biggest misconception that I see is that people use the term “dementia” as Alzheimer's disease. That's really a problem because a person might be presenting with dementia symptoms, but there are a hundred reasons why those symptoms could be presenting, right?
So it's so important, as early as possible, to get to the doctor and find out what's going on. We go to the doctor and we have our physician or clinician properly assess what's going on, ruling out treatable conditions. If those were treated, those symptoms would abate. That's amazing, right?
Then, if there's more going on, they continue down that path to get a proper diagnosis: Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body, Parkinsonians – they’re kind of first cousins – frontotemporal dementia and others. But for folks to not assume those dementia symptoms are an absolute association to Alzheimer's disease, because they're not.
That's why getting in front of the right people, somebody like Dr. Stearn or your primary care provider, can help you make sense of what's going on, so you can take care of it and be in control.
HH: Any brain health resolutions you're personally planning to take in 2025?
MS: Well, I regularly exercise, and I do recommend people get a dog if they're hesitant to exercise because I have a golden retriever who looks at me and just melts my heart when we haven't gone for our walk yet.
I definitely want to try to get more sleep. It's not that I'm not allowing time, but I do suffer from insomnia. So sleep hygiene, trying to go to bed at the same time every day, not taking naps during the day.
DAB: I think resolutions are tricky, right? Because the science and the research behind resolutions is people don't keep the resolutions, unfortunately.
I think behavior change is a constant, and so you make incremental change. You move along a trajectory of behavior change instead of these all-ins that maybe a New Year's resolution might represent.
Let's just start today and let's start sleeping better, moving more, eating better, getting rid of processed foods, things like that.