Wasn't as impressed by this as I expected. Too much of a Freakonomics fan to find her conclusions viable. The fact that people who do X also don't get Alzheimer's doesn't mean that doing X *keeps* you from getting age-related memory loss. Nonetheless, her suggestions won't hurt. ( )

Jean Carper is not an obsessively careful writer; she speaks of the 'infinitesimal' gap in synapses. And her book 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's is not entirely up to date; she speaks of the utility of red wine explaining that its power comes from resveratrol a notion that has been questioned in research recently; she also suggests whole grains including brown rice without mentioning any risks from arsenic.

She is a lucid and practiced writer on health, especially on nutrition, though, and I think that this book is potentially very useful. Mere quantity can make for complication, and there are some 100 different suggestions in this book on how to quash dementia. I will be making notes even though I recognized several of the suggestions and even do many of them already. Dr. Weil suggests, among other things, taking acetyl l carnitine; she seconds that and adds alpha lipoic acid to the mix; I have started, Saturday, to do that.

Generalizations can be hard to make although she has a chapter of them at the end. Eat healthy: reduced red meat and sugar, plenty of leafy green vegetables and cruciferous vegetables, dark juices and apple juice or apples, berries. Take supplements: here one would have to concoct a list, but she comes down firmly on the side of taking a multivitamin with anti-oxidants and without iron. Get physical exercise, particularly but not exclusively aerobic exercise. Get mental exercise; actually working your mind and presenting it with novelty is important. Be sociable; well maybe some of these are just too much for some of us.

Some of the suggestions are not for all of us. Those of us who do not drink will not be taking up red wine. Those of us who are not women will not be taking estrogen, a complicated matter as it turns out.

I like this book. I like its clarity, and I like its utility. ( )

I enjoyed the short chapters and advice on keeping Alzheimer's at bay if not entirely absent in your life. Some of the scientific medical talk was a little above my understanding, but mostly I understood that preventing a lot of other diseases that are out there will also help you to fight Alzheimer's. The preface and afterward were as important as the 100 things chapters. ( )

For anyone in middle-age or older, Alzheimer's Disease is a major concern. This book shows easy ways to delay its onset, perhaps for years.

If the recommendations in this book can be reduced to one sentence, it might be: Eat Right and Exercise Regularly. Eat lots of deep color berries, like black raspberries, cranberries, plums and strawberries; they are full of antioxidants. Apple juice can boost the brain's production of acetylcholine, just like the popular Alzheimer's drug Aricept. Large doses of caffeine, like several hundred mg per day, may help clean up your brain if you are showing signs of mental problems (people react differently to high doses of caffeine, so be aware of the side effects). If you have cholesterol problems, get it under control, now. Cinnamon gives a boost to malfunctioning insulin, allowing it to process sugar normally. Weak insulin can lead to diabetes, and can damage your brain cells. Did you know that coffee helps block cholesterol's bad effects on the brain, is anti-inflammatory and reduces the risk of depression, stroke and diabetes, which all promote dementia?

Mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise. Fill up your brain with lots of interesting stuff, like education, marriage, language skills, etc. You can actually grow your brain with lots of physical, mental and social activities. If you can join a health club and work out regularly, do it. If going for a walk after dinner is more your speed, do it. Conscientious people are better able to cope with setbacks in life, and can better dodge chronic psychological distress, which boosts risks of dementia. If you are clinically depressed, get it treated, or you are more likely to develop Alzheimer's. Symptoms that look like Alzheimer's can easily be something else (and something easily treatable). Go to a geriatric neurologist and get the right diagnosis, now.

The best way to prevent Alzheimer's is to reduce your personal risk factors, sooner rather than later. No one is expected to do everything in this book. Pick a dozen or so things that you can do every day, and stick with them. Anything that reduces the possibility of getting Alzheimer's, even by a little bit, is automatically a good thing. This book is very easy to read, and it is excellent. ( )

Very easy to understand book with two page chapters on each of her 100 suggestions on helping delay any memory problems. As she is not a healthcare provider, her disclaimer was honest and up front. If there was a chapter in which there are two sides and the jury is not back yet, so to speak, she tells you so. I liked the different web sites that many of the chapters also referred the reader to check out.

This book was so good, I ordered my own copy after reading a library copy!!! ( )