Cognitive Decline Expert: The Disease That Starts in Your 30s but Kills You in Your 70s

Dr. Louisa Nikolaidis, a clinician and academic, provides an in-depth exploration of Alzheimer's disease, emphasizing its preventability and disproportionate impact on women. She reveals that Alzheimer's is a midlife disease typically beginning in one's 30s but manifesting symptoms in late 60s and 70s. Critically, 95% of Alzheimer's cases could be prevented through lifestyle interventions, with only 3% driven by genetic mutations. Women are particularly vulnerable, comprising 70% of cases, with genetic factors like the APOE E4 gene significantly increasing risk. The disease fundamentally involves neuronal loss and brain atrophy, which can be mitigated through strategic lifestyle choices. Key prevention strategies include resistance training, maintaining cognitive reserve, managing sleep, controlling blood pressure, and targeted nutritional interventions. Resistance training emerges as particularly powerful, releasing myokines and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that support neuronal growth. Additionally, the expert highlights the importance of exercise, proper nutrition, supplementation (like omega-3, vitamin D, and creatine), and maintaining brain plasticity through challenging cognitive activities.