5 Ways to Cut Your Dementia Risk by 40% + The Truth About Microplastics

In today’s episode, Lisa discusses information presented by Dr. Reza Hosseini Ghomi, MD, MSE. Dr. Ghomi is a Neuropsychiatrist, and a 2X Best-Selling Author, who is also an expert on dementia. Having diagnosed over 1000 dementia cases throughout his career, he explains to us why 40% of those dementia diagnoses were 40% preventable. Lisa shares this crucial information with her audience today as to what Dr. Ghomi says, “Is what those patients wished they had known.” You don’t want to miss this informative episode to learn how you can minimize your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by knowing what Dr. Ghomi discloses. Also, in this episode, Lisa shares a recently published article about the amount of microplastics being found in the brains of people and that the amount has increased by 50% between 2016 and 2024. Listen to find out what this revelation could be doing to your brain. Scientists are calling it a “reckoning.”   

Mentioned Resources:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/rezahg/       
• https://www.doctorasky.com/

About the Host:

Author Lisa Skinner is a behavioral specialist with expertise in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. In her 30+year career working with family members and caregivers, Lisa has taught them how to successfully navigate the many challenges that accompany this heartbreaking disease. Lisa is both a Certified Dementia Practitioner and is also a certified dementia care trainer through the Alzheimer’s Association. She also holds a degree in Human Behavior.

Her latest book, “Truth, Lies & Alzheimer’s – Its Secret Faces” continues Lisa’s quest of working with dementia-related illnesses and teaching families and caregivers how to better understand the daunting challenges of brain disease. Her #1 Best-seller book “Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost,” was written at their urging. As someone who has had eight family members diagnosed with dementia, Lisa Skinner has found her calling in helping others through the struggle so they can have a better-quality relationship with their loved ones through education and through her workshops on counter-intuitive solutions and tools to help people effectively manage the symptoms of brain disease. Lisa Skinner has appeared on many national and regional media broadcasts. Lisa helps explain behaviors caused by dementia, encourages those who feel burdened, and gives practical advice for how to respond.

So many people today are heavily impacted by Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. The Alzheimer's Association and the World Health Organization have projected that the number of people who will develop Alzheimer's disease by the year 2050 worldwide will triple if a treatment or cure is not found. Society is not prepared to care for the projected increase of people who will develop this devastating disease. In her 30 years of working with family members and caregivers who suffer from dementia, Lisa has recognized how little people really understand the complexities of what living with this disease is really like. For Lisa, it starts with knowledge, education, and training.

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Episode Transcript

Lisa Skinner (00:00):
Hi everyone. Welcome back to another new
episode of the truth, lies andAlzheimer's show. I'm Lisa
Skinner, your host, and I havebeen receiving information from
a gentleman by the name of Dr.Reza Hosseini Ghomi, Ghomi. He's

(00:25):
a medical doctor and an MSE.He's a neuro psychiatrist. He's
an engineer. He's a four timesHealth Tech founder and a cancer
graduate. And I am finding theinformation that he shares to be

(00:46):
extremely enlightening,extremely fascinating and really
valuable. And this doctor hasdiagnosed 1000s of patients
living with Alzheimer's diseaseand related dementia, and does a

(01:06):
lot a lot of research on thistopic. So I'm going to share
this information with you today,and I will be sharing more of
his information with you infuture episodes, because I think

(01:26):
that this is a really valuableresource of information for all
of us. So he's telling us thathe has discovered that through
his research, that there arefive things that we all can do,

(01:47):
starting today, that cuts ourrisk of developing dementia by
40% and none of them requiresupplement, yay. And he says
after diagnosing 1000s ofdementia cases. He's learned
that prevention matters morethan any treatment that we

(02:13):
currently have available to ustoday. The research is clear on
what works, and this is hisrecommendation, what the
research has shown, and whatmoves the needle? Number one, we
gotta protect our hearing.Hearing loss in midlife doubles

(02:39):
our dementia risk, so it'srecommended to use ear
protection around loud noisesaddress hearing problems early
with AIDS, because our brain hasto work harder when it can't
hear clearly. Number two, we'vegot to prioritize sleep quality.

(03:05):
I read this all the time, andhe's re emphasizing that here in
in this information he'sproviding, it's recommended that
we each get seven to nine hoursof consistent sleep sleep in a

(03:26):
dark, cool room without screensaddress sleep apnea, if you
snore. And the findings are thatpoor sleep prevents what happens
in our brains when we fall intothat REM sleep, and it's brain

(03:47):
waste clearance. It's almostlike the brain goes into this
washing machine mode ordishwasher mode and cleans out
all the toxins that areaccumulating in our brain. If
you don't get seven to ninehours of consistent sleep and

(04:12):
fall into the deep sleep stageof REM that brain waste
clearance happening will nothappen. Number three, move your
body. Move our bodies regularly.It's recommended 150 minutes of

(04:32):
moderate exercise per week. Andthe key is moderate exercise,
walking counts if it raises yourheart rate. Resistance training
is recommended twice weekly,because exercise has been found

(04:53):
to increase brain derivedneurotropic factor number four,
stay socially connected. You.Loneliness has been found to
increase our dementia risk by50% and I wanted to just mention

(05:13):
that there is a correlationbetween hearing loss and
isolation, because people withhearing loss have a difficult
time being engaged in socialinteractions and social so it's
this is all tied in. So we wantto be in a position where we can

(05:40):
enjoy and have regular,meaningful conversations. They
matter. Join groups. Volunteer,maintain friendships throughout
your life. Quality ofconnections beats quantity
number five. Manage your bloodpressure. A high blood pressure

(06:05):
in midlife, damages our brainblood vessels target less than
130 over 80, if possible, diet,exercise and medication are
necessary when needed, andbecause our small blood vessels

(06:26):
feed our memory centers, and whythese work. Each intervention
targets a different pathway tobrain damage, and again, they
found that hearing loss forcescognitive overwork. Poor sleep

(06:46):
prevents toxin clearance,inactivity reduces brain growth
factors. Isolation alsoincreases inflammation in our
brains. High Blood Pressuredamages vascular supply, the
compound effect. Doing one ofthese interventions helps

(07:11):
tremendously. Doing all fivecreates dramatic risk reduction.
The earlier we start, the biggerthe impact. But it's never,
ever, ever, too late to beginwhat doesn't work expensive

(07:31):
supplements, with marketingclaims, brain training games
with limited evidence, singleinterventions without lifestyle
context. And the reality of allthis is prevention requires
consistent habits, not quickfixes. So ask yourself, which of

(07:58):
these five areas will you wantto focus on? First start small
baby steps. And in conclusion,Dr. Ghomi reiterates that he has
diagnosed over 1000 dementiacases, and he says 40% were

(08:19):
preventable, and that hispatients wished they'd known
what I just shared with youtoday. I think that's pretty
profound, and I wanted to shareone other bit of information
that I come across that I thinkis really, really important for

(08:45):
everybody to be aware of. Thisis pretty substantial, and this
was published on July 18 by adoctor ask why scientists
recently found that the amountof microplastics, which are tiny

(09:05):
plastic particles smaller thanfive millimeters in the human
brain, is about the size of aplastic spoon, has increased by
50% between 2016 and 2024
that's just startling.Surprisingly, the brain contains

(09:30):
more microplastics than ourlivers or kidneys, and people
with dementia actually hadhigher microplastic levels than
those without dementia,researchers are now
investigating how thesemicroplastics, especially those
coming from ultra processedfoods, may be affecting our

(09:54):
brain health. Ultra processedfoods, like chicken nuggets,
contain up. 30 times moremicroplastics than whole foods
such as chicken breasts. Dothese foods now make up over
half of daily calorie calorieintake in places like the US.

(10:17):
These microplastics in Ultraprocessed foods can cross the
blood brain barrier, which isthe brain's natural defense, and
cause inflammation. And studiesthat I have read, there has been
a direct correlation now foundbetween inflammation and our

(10:38):
risk of developing dementia.Also oxidative stress and damage
to the brain cells. Theseeffects may contribute to rising
rates of dementia, but alsodepression, anxiety or sleep,

(10:59):
and these have been confirmed bystudies linking Ultra processed
food consumption to thoseconditions again increased
rising rates of dementia,depression, anxiety and poor
sleep, all contributing toincreasing our risk of

(11:23):
developing dementia from eatingUltra processed foods.
Scientists are calling thissituation a reckoning to catch
that a reckoning sincemicroplastics crossing into the
brain challenges what weconsider to be safe inside our

(11:47):
bodies. They suggest developinga dietary microplastic index to
measure exposure, and they areexploring ways to remove these
microplastics from people'sbodies, like using some kind of
a blood filtering process calleda Pharisees. But more research

(12:14):
is needed on this. So with bothUltra processed food consumption
and microplastic pollutionrising globally. Understanding
this connection is urgent inorder for us to protect our
brain health. That's a prettycompelling bit of information.

(12:39):
Sure caught me my attention.I've known for a long, long
time, in the research I've done,in all the studies, I've read
that ultra processed foods areconsidered to be the worst foods
that we can ingest, and now thishas come out, saying that they

(13:01):
increase these the amount ofmicroplastics by 50% between
2016 and 2054 that are beingfound in our brain. So food for
thought. No pun intended. Butyou know, I've said this before,

(13:23):
and I'm going to say it again,there is absolute truth in the
adage that we are what we eatanyway. I thought this was going
to be really valuable for all ofyou to know. I wanted to share
it with you. I think the themore we learn about what can
possibly increase our risk ofdeveloping Alzheimer's disease

(13:45):
and related dementia is criticalfor our long term health. So
that's one of the things andreasons why I bring this
information to all of you everyweek, because I want you to be
informed that way. You can makeyour own decisions on how you

(14:06):
choose to live your lives movingforward and reduce your possible
risk of developing Alzheimer'sdisease. We don't know what we
don't know. I'm taking it uponmyself to educate you, so I hope
you found this as valuable as Idid. I think that this is just

(14:31):
unbelievable information that'sbeing disclosed. So that'll do
it for this episode of the truthlies and Alzheimer's show. I'm
Lisa Skinner, your host, thanksagain for being here and
spending part of your day withme. I appreciate all of you
very, very much, and I will lookforward to you coming back next

(14:56):
week to join me for anotherepisode of the truth. Lies and
Alzheimer's show. Have a greatrest of your week. Be healthy,
be safe, and I will see you allnext week. Take care. Bye, bye.