In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, you will face some ups and downs. The diagnosis itself will be difficult to accept. Now is the time to focus on living a healthier life to help you prepare to live well and spend your energy on what is most valuable to you.
Living a healthy life with alzheimer’s disease
Living a healthy life with Alzheimer’s means focusing on those elements of your life that impact your experience living with dementia. When you maintain your physical, spiritual, emotional, and social health, you can reap some significant benefits.
Your first goal should be to educate yourself about the disease. You can work with your physician, family, and friends to develop coping strategies while you plan for the future. This is a solid foundation for coping with the daily changes and potential obstacles.
Take care of your physical health
Taking care of your physical health will help you live well with the diagnosis for as long as possible. Follow these tips:
- Schedule regular checkups with a physician you trust.
- Establish a routine for diet and exercise.
- Create a care team that understands your health needs and can help you monitor your progress.
- Rest when you are tired and be mindful of overextending yourself.
- Drink only minimal amounts of alcohol.
- Do not change medications and/or dosages without first checking with your doctor.
- Exercise
Many studies show the benefits of physical activity for people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or early-stage Alzheimer’s. These studies suggest that mild-to-moderate physical activity can slow the decline in cognitive skills, improve symptoms of depression, reduce stress, and may reduce the risk of falls. Evidence also shows that exercise may help brain cells by increasing blood and oxygen flow. Research has strong evidence that physical activity may help overall brain health by imparting benefits to the cardiovascular system.
A group exercise class is a great start. You will be connected with others who enjoy the class as well. Aim for 20 to 30 minutes of daily aerobic exercise for the optimal benefits for physical and cognitive health. This can be vigorous walking, tennis, bike riding, or jogging.
If you are already active, keep up the activity. This lifestyle will help with your sense of identity and independence. If you don’t currently participate in exercise, consider adding a daily routine. You can start slowly and work your way up. Check with your physician first.
Healthy eating
While a healthy, balanced diet has not been shown to address symptoms of Alzheimer’s, the evidence does suggest that heart-healthy diets can help to protect the brain. A good choice is a Mediterranean diet, which includes whole grains, fish and shellfish, fruits and vegetables, nuts, olive oil, and very little red meat.
Mental stimulation
Learning new information can help your brain activity. You can take a class, take up a new hobby, or try some brain training games. Some types of mental exercises may have the added benefit of connecting you with others socially, which also may improve your mental health. If you enjoy mental stimulation or brain exercises, keep doing them.
Care for your psychological and emotional health
Dealing with a serious diagnosis like Alzheimer’s is challenging. It will impact your emotional state. You may go through the stages of grief. You may have negative, unwanted emotions, or you may feel the stigma of having such a diagnosis.
One of the most crucial things you can do proactively is to talk about your feelings. This may be with a counselor, pastor, doctor, or spouse. Sometimes a different perspective can be helpful as you learn to adjust to living with the disease and cope with difficult feelings.
Sometimes, your emotional responses may actually be a result of Alzheimer’s. You may experience anger, frustration, confusion, and have little control over your emotions. As a result, you may be unsure of yourself around family and friends or in social situations. Learning to express yourself can help you cope with emotional responses, and help those around you react in the most appropriate ways.
Try these tips for maintaining your emotional health:
- Embrace your full range of emotions. There is no right or wrong way to feel.
- Consider meeting with a trusted friend or advisor.
- Join a support group of others in the early stage.
- Maintain close relationships. This will provide you with support when you feel overwhelmed by emotion. Others can provide you validation.
- Establish a social network that includes others living in the early stage.
It is normal to feel sadness or grief when you receive the diagnosis. However, if depression and grief become overwhelming, it’s time to talk to your doctor. Warning signs of depression include:
- Feelings of sadness or unhappiness that last most of the day nearly every day.
- Decline in interest or pleasure in almost all activities most of the time.
- Difficulty making decisions or easily distracted.
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures, and blaming yourself when things aren’t going right, and experiencing these feelings almost every day.
- Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions, and remembering things.
- Frequent thoughts of death, dying, or suicide.
- Crying spells for no apparent reason.
- Changes in sleep patterns or appetite.
Taking care of your social health
Now is the time to be reaching out to friends and family. Staying connected with those who love you will help build a foundation of comfort. Building a support network with others like you can help normalize what you’re experiencing, reduce the impact of stigma and improve your quality of life.
This may be difficult at first. You may worry about the stigma, making mistakes, or miscommunicating. Consider pursuing activities that you enjoy or that satisfy you so much, that you can move past your hesitation. You can also find early-stage social engagement programs near you.
Taking care of your spiritual health
Any serious illness will undoubtedly impact your spiritual life and your understanding of life’s greater purpose. By focusing on your spiritual health, you can find ways to cope with the challenging feelings and live life more deeply.
You may worry that you will lose that sense of purpose. Your job, your hobbies, your accomplishments, your role as a spouse or parent, are just elements of the total you. These represent only parts of who you are. They have to do with who you are in relation to something outside of yourself. Your personal sense of self comes from within.
You may find your spiritual core through church or connections with your spiritual community, or through being in nature. Others find the essence of self through solitary activities that calm the mind, like meditation, yoga, or prayer. Still, others find it through the love of family and friends, by engaging or just being with those who provide understanding and acceptance.
Research shows that the essence of “self” remains with us and can be a source of strength and coping in the face of serious illness. There are times for all of us when priorities get reassessed. These times often come when major changes or significant losses occur; such events bring the opportunity to consider what is most important to focus on and what to let go of.
A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s brings big issues and questions to the forefront. Sometimes things get forgotten or pushed down on the priority list when we are living busy lives.
Tips for dealing with emotional change
If you have rapid changes in mood or a short temper, be more mindful of negative responses. Understand that your reaction is caused by the disease. When it comes to guilt, clarify why you have this feeling. If you need other points of view, seek out your allies and bounce your views off them. Then make a clear decision and move forward, whatever the plan. Remember that guilt is often self-imposed for no logical reason.
Final thoughts
If today isn’t going as well as you would like, if you are facing frustrations and anger, if you are confused or feeling down, be easy on yourself. Take a deep breath. Reach out to a trusted ally. You are not alone.