#251 - AMA #46: Optimizing brain health: Alzheimer's disease risk factors, APOE, prevention strategies, and more

View the Show Notes Page for This Episode Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content Sign Up to Receive Peter's Weekly Newsletter In this "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) episode, Peter goes into depth on the topic of brain health, starting with how Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed, the significance of blood-based biomarkers in diagnosis, and what the various APOE gene variants mean in terms of a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Next, Peter discusses the various strategies for preventing Alzheimer's disease and neurodegeneration. He touches briefly on exercise as a potent tool, but focuses more on lesser-known factors that could impact brain health, such as nutrition supplementation, lipid management, brain games, sauna, oral health, hearing loss, and more. If you're not a subscriber and are listening on a podcast player, you'll only be able to hear a preview of the AMA. If you're a subscriber, you can now listen to this full episode on your private RSS feed or our website at the AMA #46 show notes page. If you are not a subscriber, you can learn more about the subscriber benefits here. We discuss: Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease [2:45]; Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease, the C2N test, and other tools for diagnosis [7:30]; Genetic component of Alzheimer's disease: genes that confer risk [12:45]; Understanding your APOE status and why it's important to know [17:15]; The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, and who is at higher risk [21:15]; Can the risk of Alzheimer's disease be decreased with behavioral changes? [24:15]; Overview of modifiable behaviors that potentially play a role in risk reduction of neurodegeneration [30:15]; Things that clearly impact brain health: smoking, alcohol, sleep, head injuries, blood pressure, and more [34:15]; How nutrition impacts brain health: common diets, metabolic health, energy balance, and more [46:15]; Comparing common diets: data showing the association between the incidence of Alzheimer's disease and specific diets [59:45]; Supplements: EPA and DHA, vitamin D, and B vitamins [1:13:00]; Supplements: theracurmin, cocoa flavonols, and magnesium L-threonate [1:25:15]; Impact of exercise on brain health, minimum effective dose, and the most important types of exercise [1:33:00]; Challenging the mind with brain games—does it impact neurodegeneration? [1:43:00]; The data on sauna and brain health [1:49:45]; Oral health and its association with brain health [1:52:45]; How reducing lipids can improve brain health and prevent neurodegeneration [1:55:30]; The potential impact of hearing loss on brain health and neurodegeneration [2:04:30]; and More. Connect With Peter on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube