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"&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Somewhere along the line, we have all heard the admonition that we should mind our own business.\u00A0 There is a certain folksy wisdom in it that is hard to refute.\u00A0 If the advice pertains to anything, it pertains to the safeguarding of our own minds.\u00A0 What could be more our own business than that?\u00A0 So, yes- we should mind our business, and our minds are our business.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;But our minds are fast becoming fodder for big business as well.\u00A0 Over recent years, there has been increasing, and increasingly anxious, attention to the rising rates of dementia among an aging population.\u00A0 Projections have been made resulting in headlines about a looming Alzheimer\u2019s \u201C&amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/06/alzheimers-dementia-epidemic-numbers-to-triple/1881151/&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;epidemic&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;,\u201D with staggering associated costs in human potential and dollars alike.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;This, in turn, has fostered a market for every conceivable kind of relevant advance.\u00A0 Studies about new methods in Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis are published routinely, and often get coverage in mainstream media.\u00A0 So, too, do related efforts to characterize the brain changes seen in dementia, and to identify the implicated genes.\u00A0 Predictably prominent is the area of drug development, with several &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/alzheimers-disease-medications-fact-sheet&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt;medications currently approved by the FDA for Alzheimer\u2019s&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; treatment.\u00A0 And there is a booming cottage industry in &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://www.lumosity.com/&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;3&amp;quot; rel=&amp;quot;nofollow&amp;quot;&amp;gt;brain games&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; as well.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Often overlooked in the mix is the potential we have to reduce our risk, perhaps dramatically, by minding the business of our daily lifestyle choices.\u00A0&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;There are some varieties of dementia that can be reversed acutely with targeted treatment if diagnosed correctly; these include hypothyroidism, and vitamin B12 deficiency.\u00A0 But the two prevailing varieties cannot be reversed once diagnosed; the best hope we all have is to prevent them in the first place.\u00A0 These two are multi-infarct dementia, and Alzheimer\u2019s.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The first of them, as the name suggests, is due to the slow aggregation over time of multiple, tiny strokes, or infarcts of the brain.\u00A0 These are too small in isolation to present the way larger strokes due, with loss of body function, but little by little, they interfere with the transmission of impulses through the brain.\u00A0 That, in turn, erodes cognitive ability.\u00A0 Because this condition results from tiny strokes, the means to prevent it related to stroke prevention, which in turn is much like the prevention of heart disease.\u00A0 An optimal diet, routine physical activity, the avoidance of tobacco, the avoidance of excessive alcohol intake, weight management, stress management, social connections, and adequate sleep are all part of the formula that serve to minimize risk of all chronic disease, stroke- and therefore dementia- included.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The same applies to Alzheimer\u2019s.\u00A0 While Alzheimer\u2019s has long cast a shadow of confusion about its specific causes and manifestations, two interpretations have come to prevail.\u00A0 One is that Alzheimer\u2019s is an end product of vascular disease, and shares many of the same risk factors.\u00A0 The other is that Alzheimer\u2019s is a kind of insulin resistance affecting the central nervous system preferentially; it has even been called \u201C&amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769828/&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;4&amp;quot;&amp;gt;type 3 diabetes&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;.\u201D&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Both assessments have very promising implications.\u00A0 We know how to prevent 80% or more of heart disease by using &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://ajl.sagepub.com/content/8/5/301&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;5&amp;quot; rel=&amp;quot;nofollow&amp;quot;&amp;gt;lifestyle as our medicine&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;.\u00A0 For type 2 diabetes, and thus presumably type 3 as well, the news is even better; we know how prevent as much as 95% of that using much the same formula.\u00A0 Eating well, being active, and not smoking- good use of our &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://bigthink.com/videos/how-modifying-what-we-do-with-our-feet-forks-and-fingers-can-change-our-fate&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;6&amp;quot; rel=&amp;quot;nofollow&amp;quot;&amp;gt;feet, forks, and fingers&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; if you will- takes us a long way toward the prize.\u00A0 In the &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.bluezones.com/&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;7&amp;quot; rel=&amp;quot;nofollow&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Blue Zones&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, where living well prevails, dementia is rare- as are all chronic diseases.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Dementia is not a bogeyman waiting in the shadows to pounce on us unpredictably.\u00A0 For the most part, the risk factors that presage the threat are familiar, well understand, and eminently manageable.\u00A0 None of us gets a guarantee, of course.\u00A0 But we all have the means, in our own hands (and feet) to &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2013/02/08/mind-your-body&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;8&amp;quot;&amp;gt;shift the odds massively in our favor&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Our minds are our own business if anything is.\u00A0 As the interest of big business is attracted to their preservation, we should not get distracted.\u00A0 An enormous opportunity to preserve and protect our cognitive abilities resides with us, and the lifestyle choices we make.\u00A0 We are all well advised to mind them accordingly.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;-fin&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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