When the review copy of 100 Simple Things You can do to Prevent Alzheimer’s and Age-Related Memory Loss, by Jean Carper, arrived, I did what I do with most review copies offered. I opened the package, made a mental note to get to it, and added it to my stack of books to read.
Along with most boomers, however, I am painfully aware of time slipping by. I second guess every illusive word, every glitch in my routine due to inattention to detail. I consider my daily food and exercise choices as important reminders to do the right thing for my body, and I try to take at least baby steps in the right direction. With that in mind, I picked up Carper’s offering meaning to just flip through it. I was immediately hooked.
No, it’s not the plot. Or is it? I guess the plot is about preventing Alzheimer’s, so while this is no novel, the plot is vital to us all. One delightful aspect of this book is the layout. The reader isn’t going to put it off because of time (witness me). Each segment is approximately a page and a half long. Who can’t handle that? The reader can start anywhere – beginning, middle, end.
As a writer who has followed Alzheimer’s and other dementia studies closely, I found myself nearly snapping my neck with yes nods as I read:
- “…high blood pressure initiates much of the damage to blood vessels that leads to vascular dementia.”
- “…a year or two before memory problems appear and three years before Alzheimer’s is diagnosed, visuo-spatial skills begin to deteriorate…”
- “…Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease devoted an entire issue to emerging evidence linking Alzheimer’s to common microorganisms that cause cold sores, gastric ulcers, Lyme disease, pneumonia, and even the flu.”
From the introduction through the final page, my reflexive brain kept nudging me to quote this statement, that expert, another study. However I realized early on that this attitude won’t do. The whole book merits quoting, so why even start?
Jean Carper has written 23 books, including three New York Times bestsellers. Until recently, she wrote the “Eat Smart” column for USA Today. Carper carries theApoE4 gene, which is one of the most dominant genes yet discovered that is connected to Alzheimer’s. Thus, she has good personal reasons to follow Alzheimer’s studies and to act on any preventative measures she thinks will help her. But so do most of us. As most scientists will tell us, “The best cure for Alzheimer’s is prevention.”
In my opinion, 100 Simple Things belongs in every home with residents over 30. It’s a reference book to use, as author Carper says, “as a buffet table.” However, I would add to her modest description that we should pile up the goodies as fast as we can adapt our lifestyles.
Carper presents the reader with hope on a platter. Help yourself and your family by making full use of what she has to offer. There’s not a person I can think of who wouldn’t benefit from something in Carper’s book. I hope I’m disciplined enough to follow through on at least some of these bits of wisdom.
100 Simple Things…Alzheimer’s, by Jean Carper, published by Little Brown, is available in stores and online.
Posted in Alzheimer’s, Assisted Living, Dementia, Diet | 3 Comments »Tags: Alzheimer’s, book review, Dementia
I’m genuinely irritated by this book and by extension this review. The advice it contains is I’m sure, generally good for leading a healthy life and like many chronic diseases, Alzheimers is likely to be more severe, sooner for people who are unhealthy. However, the suggestion, however well meaning, that you can prevent Alzheimers by following any of the advice in the book is grossly optimistic.
Not nearly enough is understood about the disease and not nearly enough is understood about how the brain works to be able to make a claim of that type.
My mother died last year at the age of 79. She had Alzheimers. Throughout her life she led a ‘healthy lifestyle’: she didn’t drink excessively, she was physically active, she understood the importance of a balanced diet, she was a secondary school teacher and after retiring studied geology at university. She was formally diagnosed as having Alzheimers when she was 70, although she and we knew long before then that she had many of the symptoms.
My apologies if this comment comes across as bitter in any way but I find the title and contents of the book both simplistic and insulting to people who have to live with Alzheimers every day.
Thanks, Martist! I agree. We all need to become aware of fairly simple lifestyle changes that could lower our risk of Alzheimer’s. Carper’s book is a gem.
Carol
Having read Jean Carper’s, Miracle Cures and Your Miracle Brain, I was thrilled to learn she has Written something to bring awareness to Prevention of Alzheimer’s. I live near NIH where the common attitude is that nothing much can be done, thanks Jean for proving the Nay sayers wrong, many of them are our physicians and researchers, who buy whatever is fed them from Big Pharma. I recently heard this nightmare illness could hit one in every four Americans in the near future, let’s get busy reading this book. Thanks to Jean Carper for writing it, I trust her.