Based on recent reports regarding latest development in Alzheimers research, is that researchers have found out that mental activities that assist in encouraging the use of brain function such as puzzles, reading books and newspapers shows that it slows down the symptoms of Alzheimers.

This was reported on the latest issue of Neurology, the authorized publication of American Academy of Neurology. "During the next six years, the study found that the rate of cognitive decline in people without cognitive impairment was reduced by 52 percent for each point on the cognitive activity scale."

Recent reports suggest that people with higher qualifications are more prone to Alzheimer's. The more highly educated you are the faster the progression of this disease.

I recently read a book by Dr. Mark Hyman called "The UltraMind Solution" where he has been able to "cure" people who supposedly had Alzheimer's. He's a functional medicine doctor (functionalmedicine.org). Functional medicine believes people are overdiagnosed and frequently treated with drugs that contribute to the problem and that most "diseases" can be traced back to an imabalance in one more more of the body's 7 systems.

Many times, what is diagnosed as "Alzheimer's" may in fact be disruptions in brain function caused by heavy metal toxicity or other problems (that's just a common one). If I had a loved one with Alzheimer's, I would seek out a functional medicine doctor for tests. Even in patients whose symptoms are not cured by functional medicine treatment (which usually involves changes in diet and nutritional dietary supplements), usually the symptoms improve significantly and may improve even more over a longer time period. The sad thing is that many of the tests may not be covered by insurance and it usually costs $700-1000 for testing and a report from a functional medicine doctor. Sometimes, a portion of those costs may be reimbursed by an insurance provider.

As mentioned by a previous poster, the brain needs exercise just like the body (both contribute to proper brain function). Puzzles and other mind games help keep the neural pathways active and even help form new ones. Web sites that provide games like http://www.lumosity.com/. That's probably my favorite of the brain game web sites. They offer a free trial and then a paid subscription service. There are some sites that offer games for free, but they're not nearly as nice as this one (I've tried several).

The latest, as of August 26th, is the correlation between diabetes and Alzheimer's. People with type 2 diabetes appear to be at an increased risk of developing plaques in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease.