Building Resilience Against Alzheimer’s Disease
10 no-nonsense rules to combat the decline of cognitive skills.
Updated June 1, 2026 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader
If for some reason you are concerned with slipping into dementia , is there anything you can do now to avoid this fate? What are the risk factors and what builds resilience ?
To be clear, dementia is not a single disease like diabetes, but rather an umbrella term that encompasses a range of symptoms characterized by a decline in short-term memory , cognitive abilities, and language skills. This leads to increasing difficulties in the performance of normal daily routines. Of all the dementias, Alzheimer’s disease constitutes approximately 60% to 80% of cases. Currently, about 6.7 million Americans and 600,000 Canadians aged 65 and older are affected. It is projected that by 2050, this number will double.
Roughly 40% of dementia cases worldwide are linked to predisposing influences that can, at least in principle, be modified. These include limited education , hearing loss, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking , physical inactivity, diabetes, social isolation , and exposure to air pollution. Other factors that we have little control over but once present can be successfully treated are stroke, heart failure, and depression .
Keeping Your Brain Fit
Now for the good news. Here are my 10 no-nonsense rules that, if observed with some regularity, can significantly contribute to a healthy mind in a healthy body.
Because of space constraints, I shall elaborate on only the most important ones.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh in a year-long study found that participants who completed 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise weekly showed improvements in fitness, cortisol regulation, and emotional resilience compared to controls. Advanced imaging revealed that regular exercise enhanced hippocampal connectivity, reduced stress-related biological effects, and slowed brain aging.
Overall, consistent moderate exercise appears to be a simple, effective strategy for improving brain health.
Vaccination remains one of the most effective and cost-efficient public health interventions ever developed. By priming the immune system to recognize and neutralize pathogens, vaccines prevent illness before it begins. Currently, the influenza (flu) vaccine, shingles vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine, and Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) have shown intriguing associations with lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, possibly through immune-system modulation.
The two most popular health diets are the Mediterranean and the DASH. The former is less of a diet and more of a lifestyle. It blends the basics of healthy eating with the traditional flavors and cooking of the people inhabiting the Mediterranean basin. DASH stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension.
Both these “diets” are really very similar. Their advice: eat food that is rich in plant protein, dairy, omega-3 fatty acids, and whole foods. Reduce the consumption of red meat and increase that of fish, poultry, and beans as well as of fruits and vegetables, nuts, yogurt, vitamins A, C, and E, and the minerals copper, zinc, and selenium. Avoid processed food, refined sugars, salt, and saturated fats.
Learn to deal with stress
Life is stressful . There are world problems, the boss at work, the child who spends too much time on the computer, a persistent cough, the list is long. You cannot escape stress. What you can learn is not being stressed out by stress.
I offer two suggestions for dealing with thoughts that keep you awake at night and disturb your waking hours. Firstly, don’t catastrophize . Don’t let a forgotten name become dementia. When you catch yourself escalating like this, try to ask yourself: What evidence do I actually have and what else might explain this?
Secondly, imagine a big juicy steak. You would not want to stuff it into your mouth all at once, right? You want to taste it one bite at a time. Approach your problem the same way. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task, divide it into smaller units. Let’s say you are worried about the cost of beef; we can search for cuts of beef that are cheaper than what you have been buying in the past. Or perhaps you can switch to pork or chicken or even healthier items like fish or vegetables. When you realize that the problem is manageable, stress beats a retreat.
The brain has one thing in common with muscle: use it or lose it. The best way to keep your brain healthy is by keeping it busy with activities. A large international brain-imaging study found that even brief periods of creative engagement in activities such as dancing, making music, creating visual art, or playing computer games exhibited neural patterns linked to slower brain aging. What these pursuits share is their demand for imagination and novel problem-solving.
And stay curious. Read newspapers, listen to podcasts, join a book club. The latter will also lead to more socializing.
Interdisciplinary studies from the U.K. reported that socially isolated people had lower gray matter volumes of brain regions involved in memory and learning and were 26% more likely to develop later dementia. They also had increased inflammation, heart disease, risk for cardiovascular problems including stroke, and immune dysfunction. Relating to people and pets (as I noted in a previous post) heals the brain as well as the body.
Many of the ailments that befall us are not purely the products of fate; they are shaped by how we choose to live moment to moment. I believe the most profound approach to total health is cultivating a life that is engaged and purposeful. Look for novelty and diversity. Sustain relationships. Expand your horizons.
This article is excerpted from “Building resilience against Alzheimer’s disease,” The Globe and Mail, May 29, 2026.
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Taquet, M., Dercon, Q., & Harrison, P. J. (2024). The recombinant shingles vaccine is associated with lower risk of dementia. Nature Medicine, 30(5), 1250–1258.
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Thomas R. Verny, M.D. , the author of eight books, including The Embodied Mind , has taught at Harvard University, University of Toronto, York University, and St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.