The Faces of Dementia

When I think back on the thousands of patients I’ve cared for with dementia, I see the faces of women. Most were in their 70s and 80s, but just as vivid are the memories of the daughters, nieces, and sisters who stood beside them, offering care and support. Dementia affects men too — but the numbers are clear: dementia disproportionately affects women…For decades, the higher rates of Alzheimer’s in women were explained by longevity: women live longer, so dementia follows. But emerging science points to gender-specific risks that go far beyond lifespan. In fact, more than 30 risk factors for AD have been shown to affect women greater than men. Some are beyond our control. But many of these gender preferential risk factors are modifiable, such as…

This is where the concept of Medicine 3.0 (defined by Peter Attia, MD) comes in and it is particularly pointed towards optimizing neurologic healthspan. We start with a simple question, what do you want from your last decades of life in terms of cognitive wellbeing and what does your physical health need to be to support that. Next we take stock of where you are now and come up with the strategy to get you where you want to be, accounting for age expected decline. By breaking it down and knowing what data to objectively track, we can prioritize which tactics are best for you and then layer on over time.