Memories of the future You hear a lot about epidemics these days -- obesity, diabetes, bird flu. And now it looks like there's another one burgeoning just on the horizon: Alzheimer's. A recent study done at Johns Hopkins University found that the already staggering number of cases diagnosed each year will quadruple over the next 40 years. That means one out of every 85 people worldwide will develop the disease by the time we reach the middle of the 21st century. Unless, of course, we do something about it, which is not the insurmountable feat the article I read implied with its commentary that this news serves "as a sobering reminder of the toll to come if scientists cannot find better ways to battle Alzheimer's and protect aging brains." If you rely on science, the outlook may indeed be grim: Alzheimer's is one of those "one step forward, two steps back" conditions where every new discovery leads to even more unanswered questions that warrant studies all their own. But we know enough right now to make a difference in this prediction even if not a single additional study were to be done in the next 40 years. As Dr. Wright has written numerous times over the years, there are dozens of things you can do and nutrients you can take to protect your brain not only from Alzheimer's, but also from the general cognitive decline that occurs as a part of the aging process. In essence, you can keep Alzheimer's and those annoying "senior moments" out of your life in one fell swoop. Fish oil, bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, and lithium are just a few of the things he's recommended And, of course, research has shown time and again that keeping your brain stimulated goes a long way in protecting its function. Crossword puzzles, logic problems, riddles, even board and card games all help you use it rather than lose it. | 
