Lifestyle changes for managing early-stage Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes a gradual decline in a person's memory, thinking, and their ability to perform everyday activities. These symptoms are the result of damage to the brain that interferes with how the brain functions.

Early-stage Alzheimer's disease refers to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia. With MCI, a person experiences more problems with memory and thinking than are considered normal for their age, but these problems do not interfere with daily functioning. With mild dementia, problems with memory and thinking do interfere with daily functioning, but a person is able to remain independent, though they may need some support.

How is early-stage Alzheimer's disease treated?

Healthcare providers recommend starting treatment for Alzheimer's disease as soon as possible after diagnosis. While there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, there are medications that can help a person manage symptoms. There are also medications that can help slow the progression of the disease for some people with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia.

The type of treatment recommended by a healthcare team will depend on a number of factors about the diagnosis and the person being treated—symptoms, overall health, coexisting conditions, medical history, insurance coverage. Weighing the potential benefits of a medication against the potential side effects is an important aspect of treatment decisions.

What lifestyle changes are recommended?

In addition to medications, changing habits and adopting new habits and routines may be recommended for people living with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. These can include:

• Regular exercise, with activities like walking, aerobic exercise, and strength training. Talk to your healthcare provider about how much activity is recommended and what types of activities you should focus on.
• Changes to diet. This can mean reducing the consumption of certain foods, such as foods with high amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and refined sugar. It's recommended to build a diet around vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins (like poultry and fish), and low-fat dairy.
• Engaging in activities that provide mental stimulation. Reading, trivia, puzzles, learning new skills, games, journaling, drawing, and other activities that are creative, cognitively stimulating, or expressive may be beneficial in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
• Social engagement is also important. Talk to people. Spend time with people. Social isolation is associated with faster progression of cognitive decline.
• Establishing or maintaining good sleep hygiene and strategies to manage stress.
• Quitting smoking (if a person smokes) and avoiding environments with secondhand smoke.
• Limiting or abstaining from alcohol.

Each of these is a topic worth discussing with a healthcare provider. While it's normal to want to take immediate steps to protect your brain after a diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease, steps like increasing physical activity and changes to diet should be done with the guidance of a healthcare provider.

Journaling is mentioned above and can be a two-fold approach to helping a person manage early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Not only can the act of writing things down provide a form of cognitive stimulation, a journal is also a place to keep track of symptoms, questions you have for your healthcare provider, and concerns that you want to discuss at your next appointment.