Change Your Brain Every Day - Attacking Alzheimer’s Disease: A Special Edition Interview with Maria Shriver

Episode Date: May 8, 2017

In this special edition, double length episode, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen are joined by the former first lady of California, Maria Shriver. After losing her father to Alzheimer’s, Maria founded The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement to help in research and awareness of this devastating disease. In this discussion, Dr. Daniel Amen, Tana, and Maria touch on the risk factors for Alzheimer’s and what you can do to prevent it in your family. Maria also talks about Move For Minds, a special Alzheimer’s benefit event held in eight cities across the country.

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. Here we teach you how to win the fight for your brain to defeat anxiety, depression, memory loss, ADHD, and addictions. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we've transformed lives for three decades using brain spec imaging to better target treatment and natural ways to heal the brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com.

The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceutical products to support the health of your brain and body. For more information, visit brainmdhealth.com. Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. So we are very blessed to have a special guest, Maria Shriver, that we couldn't be more excited about. She really doesn't need an introduction. She's an award winning journalist, author of six bestselling books, former first lady of California, and our friend and really a warrior in helping people sustain and keep their minds.

We're so happy to be able to call her a friend and also have her join us in our fight against Alzheimer's. Welcome, Maria. Thank you both. And thank you for describing me. I like that description as your friend, because I'm honored to be that. I'm honored to be a fellow warrior. And I'm really glad that you've asked me to talk with you today.

So talk to us about how you got passionate about this fight. I know you have a personal story that really motivated you. Well, my dad, you're right. Obviously, my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2003 and died in 2011. And so I kind of came into it like many people as a child of it and then found that there weren't very, you know, good books out there about it. So I wrote a children's book. And then as a journalist, I wanted to do a television show about it. And I couldn a children's book. And then as a journalist, I wanted to do a television show about it. And I couldn't find anybody. And then I pitched HBO for a while because I thought it would be a good television show. We ended up doing a big thing called the Alzheimer's Project,

which I think is still very relevant today about caregiving, about research, about they adapted my children's book and about kind of the world of Alzheimer's. I've gone on to run marches. I started the Women's Alzheimer's Movement, executive produced Still Alice. I've testified in the Congress. So I've tried to kind of approach this like you, you know, from all different angles, trying to develop a movement and get people focused on this disease, what we need to know, what's true, what's not true, and what they can do today to safeguard their brains. So what are some of the biggest lessons that you've learned that you think are important for people to know? Well, I think I was just saying this yesterday

or on Sunday in Dallas when I was speaking. I wish I knew at 40 what I know now, and now I'm 61. So I wish I had known about the importance of brain health. I wish I had known about cognition, strengthening cognition. I wish I had known how deeply connected sugar is to this disease. I wish I had known about the benefits of meditation. So I think the things that are exciting to me about the space now is not to focus on all the trials that have failed, but the things that we do know now that are lifestyle related. I,

you know, I think people were all focused on, oh my God, you know, do you have an Alzheimer's gene and there's no hope and, you know, et cetera, et cetera. And so I really now try to take the conversation and flip it and say, you know, your brain health is as important as your body's health. You know, there are things out there you can do to strengthen your cognition. You can adapt a mind healthy diet. You can adapt a mind-healthy diet. You can rest your brain. You must rest your brain. The connection of sleep, how I manifest stress. These are all things, as you well know better than I do, that impact your brain and your mind.

And I wish I had known that 20 years ago. I don't know if I would have paid attention, but I think I might have. So it's, it's really obvious to me. I was at your event last year, move for minds, and you're such a beautiful woman. You're so vibrant. And you know, I mean, 61 is, you know, not it's, it's a great age. It's not old by any stretch, but you look so much younger and so much more vibrant. That's clearly a result of your lifestyle. So I, you know, I, I've got to say thank you, but I, I know all of this and I'm always interested in how do you take knowledge and how does it become behavioral? Right? So I know sugar's bad for me. Um, and there are many people who even think that Alzheimer's is type

three diabetes. Um, but you know, I still eat cookies or I still eat things with sugar in them but I'm more conscious of it today somehow kind of making it clear to me that that impacted my brain has had more impact on me than somebody telling me sugar was bad for my thighs I don't know why but I've often said you know if women paid as much attention to their brain as we do to our lips, our eyes, and our thighs, I think we might have worked out what causes Alzheimer's. But I have found in myself certain things that people told me, you know, this diet is good for you. But now when someone tells me this diet is good or this way of eating is good for your brain, I'm paying more attention than adapting a certain diet for losing weight.

So I've started meditating. I've really cut back on sugar. I have not eliminated it altogether. I wish I could say I had. I pay more attention. My kids pay a lot of attention to labels and sugar content in the foods that I buy. I'm constantly buying things that are being thrown out by my children, but who are very aware of all of this. I love that. Because if you have a higher risk, it means they have a higher risk. And, you know, I've been a psychiatrist for 35 years and I used to study children and grandchildren of alcoholics because that was very personal to me. And so I always told my kids, if you don't drink, you're not going to have a problem. If you drink, you could have a huge problem. And now, because we know the connection between sugar and it's not just sugar, it's foods that turn to sugar,

like bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, and sugar, that they're what elevate our fasting blood sugar levels, and that erodes blood vessels. And my grandfather was a candy maker, and so sugar was a real problem for me until i realized it was not giving me what i really wanted longevity energy health memory a good mind and i'm vain as can be so i like it that i can be in the same size jeans that i was in high school um and so i'm actually funny david that hasn't as a woman you would think that would be the prime

motivator for me and for some reason that wasn't but losing my mind is a huge motivator well especially if you've had someone in your family that you've been affected by and had to see that then it becomes very personal I think it's just I meet so many families every day who come up to me and, you know, who don't understand what's happening to their parent or sibling or. And I think, you know, having I had a mother who had strokes kind of at the same time my dad was being diagnosed. I've had, you know, anybody who has children knows that they all learn in different ways, and so kind of understanding how certain brains retain information versus others, I think that opened up for me a huge curiosity about the brain, what was going on in a child's brain that might be similar to someone who was trying to retain information after a stroke

and who was losing information through Alzheimer's. And so I've, you know, really tried to kind of be curious, approach this as a journalist, ask questions. And then that's what really led me to focusing on women, because I kept saying, I think there are more women who have it. I think there are more women. And they, you know, everybody was like, no, no, that's not true. It's only because women live longer. And then we did the big Shriver report. And lo and behold, you know, there are more women. And then I would go around, ask doctors, why are there, why is it more prevalent in women? And they would go like, well, I don't know. And I go, well, can we research this? Can we do some studies on it?

They're like, oh, sure. Okay, we'll start doing that. So I tried to get the Alzheimer's Association to develop a women's research fund there. And I've gone to other places to ask them to develop funds to study women. And that's really what Move for Minds is doing, is trying to fund research into women. How do they process inflammation differently? Are chromosomes different? Does that have an impact? Are hormones different? You know, how does being perimenopausal impact the brain? How does menopause impact the brain? Should we take hormones? Should we not? Is that good for cognition? Is it not?

So I have a lot more questions than I have answers, but I like throwing these questions out to people like yourselves and others and say, come on, let's find the answer. If we've looked in the plaque and tangle section and that's come up empty, let's look over here. Well, I have a new book I'm working on called Memory Rescue. And I actually, I list the 11 major risk factors for it and then how to attack them. So it's never gonna be a pill.

It's gonna go, it's a multifactorial illness that is going to need a multifactorial cause. So we call it fighting the war on multiple fronts. And all those things you mentioned are important. That's kind of different. When I first got into this fight 14 years ago, there was like the hope that there was a pill that, you know, they were looking for a, you know, solution. It's only recently where people have begun to say, you know, it's more complex than we imagined. It's multi-pronged. We're going to have to attack it from the lifestyle place from the, you know, strengthening, you know, the brain from cognition place. We're going to

have to affect the diet. We're going to have to affect stress. So that to me is really interesting, but that's new. And it's hopeful. Actually, when I wrote Preventing Alzheimer's in 2005, that's the exact approach we took, but people thought we were crazy. And, you know, maybe we are. But it seems, did you see the Scientific American, April, where the cover is the first success against Alzheimer's? plus exercise, plus cognitive training, significant improvements in people who were headed into cognitive impairment compared to people who weren't, who was a 1,200-person study. That's exciting, and that's exciting because those are things that people can do now.

And I myself, you know, as I said, I'm always interested in what is it, how do we get people who know the information to actually change their behavior? And that's oftentimes where I find myself, talking about all of this, amassing all the information, and then I don't have time to do what I'm talking about. So I'm really trying to figure out how to plan my own life. I have children. I'm working. I'm trying to, you know, I run between NBC, the Women's Alzheimer's Movement, my Architects of Change conversation series, and my Sunday paper. And do I have enough time to do the exercise, the physical exercise I need and want to do, the meditation I need and want to do, the cognitive exercises I need and want to do, the meditation I need and want to do, the cognitive exercises I need and

want to do. You know, so it's, I think also changing perhaps the way we work and how we value rest. And so I think this is a much bigger, more holistic conversation we need to be having. You know, as soon as you see your brain, so this is the thing that hooked me 25 years ago. I saw my brain and at 37, it looked worse than my mom's brain, who is 60. And that really irritated me. But I played football in high school. And so I developed this thing I call brain envy. I wanted a better brain, which then led me to like make time to sleep and eat right and play table tennis and do all the things that I do. I know you don't have much time.

We are just so grateful. And can you talk about Move for Minds and how people can learn about that? Well, they can go to moveforminds.org and find out as much as they want. I want to thank you both. You came last year and it was really, I think it's revolutionary in a way that we went to Equinox, which is high performance living where people are already thinking about their bodies and said, can we get people to start talking and move for their minds? And they said yes. And that to me was really great because corporate America has been slow to embrace Alzheimer's as a cause, you know,

corporate America. And I'm not trying to compete with breast cancer, but, you know, every time I go to say something to somebody, they're like, well, we already do something for breast cancer. And I said, that's great. I love that. But a woman in her early 60s is twice as likely to get Alzheimer's in her lifetime than she is to get breast cancer. So we've got to start talking about our minds and our brains, even if it's scary, even if you're ageist. This is something that's going to wipe out Medicare, Medicaid and our country, not to mention millions of families. So Move for Minds is a hopeful event. It's in eight cities. People will come to the Equinox gyms where they'll hear from people like you, people who will bring us up to date on all the hopeful information that's out there regarding sleep, regarding caregiving, regarding food, regarding cognition exercise, physical exercise, as I said, nutrition, and they'll all be in this one space. We'll also be having a specific workout. Moving your body is critical to saving your mind, and I'm hopeful that people will become

as obsessed with saving and exercising their brains as they are with their bodies. So I'm really grateful that Equinox has grown this relationship, wanted to put it in more places. Next year, we're going to Vancouver and London. And all of the money raised online by the people who will go to the clubs goes directly to research. So we're always trying to get sponsors who will sponsor the event so we can, you know, have people like yourselves come there and do these panels and give people so they leave with information that they can use and implement, you know, in their daily lives today. And wherever I go and talk about this, and this may be something you find as well, people are stunned. Well-educated people are like stunned at the information. They don't know any of it. And that's both

really exciting and really scary. Yeah, I was actually there last year. I know Daniel was on your panel. And I just have to say, I highly recommend that people get involved. It was really not just educational. It was really fun. You had some amazing sponsors there. It was a lot of fun. It was super interactive and, and highly, highly educational at the same time, but in a really, you know, interesting way. It was not intimidating. It was just a fantastic event. So I wanted to make it fun because people often think, oh, Alzheimer's is scary. It's dreary. And I'm saying, look, it's fun to get this information. It's fun to learn. It's fun to be in community. And people know now that, you know, if they move their bodies, that that's good for their bodies.

But surprisingly, they don't know or they don't think about or it's just not kind of everyday thinking to think about how what you're doing to your body impacts your brain. And I think everybody that goes to these events and we've done some kickoffs is really coming out of it going like, wow, I never knew that. I never thought about that. And imagine what a healthier society we can have when people start knowing this information in their 30s and 40s. And where we can also build the information across generations. As I said to you, my kids went to it last year and they've become so much more aware and they've been really helpful to me about you know what I mean because I'll come back and I go oh I've got this pressed juice or I got this juice thing and my son will go yeah but that one's full of sugar you didn't read the label

I thought it was juice and he's like not all juices are the same mommy not all protein bars are the same that one you're really like you like it because it's full of sugar and I'm like oh really and so you know they've been really helpful to me and I think they they saw their grandfather get Alzheimer's they hear me talk about it they see people come up to me all the time and uh I don't think they want that for me and I don't want it for me and so I'm trying to run out the clock, but I'm getting to it, you know, later in a way. Yeah, but we're still really young because I'm the same age as you are. And what I like about Move for Minds, it's empowering. Yes. And and you probably know this, but but most of our people don't, is that if you have the gene that puts you at an increased risk

for Alzheimer's disease, what the research is now telling us is exercise is better for you than anybody else. That the right diet is better for you than anyone else. So the gene is not a death sentence. It's a wake-up call to do the right thing.

Like I have heart disease in my family and I know it. My grandfather's first heart attack at 49 and left me way too early. And I loved him. And so I'm not going to do those same things he did. He was a candy maker. Because I want to be here for my grandbabies. So you have to find what's the right motivation and then put in the right strategies because you love yourself.

I mean, that's the reason to do it is I stay away from sugar because I actually see it as the enemy. It's going to rob me of what I want. And, you know, I mean, mindset is so important to be this brain warrior. You got to know what you want, why you want it. And then the other part is easy. Then you don't feel deprived. You feel like when you do the wrong thing, well, then you're really depriving yourself of what you truly want. I thought what was interesting there that you said is also the sugar that's in bread or crackers or chips, you know, that sort of stuff is also I never think of those things as sugar. I think of sugar

as candy, you know, and also we weren't brought up that way. Right. So it's, um, yeah, not at all. So I'm eating chips. My daughter goes, you know, mommy, that's sugar. Turns to sugar. I'm like, Oh my God, she's awesome. She's awesome. Like 10,000 things. You can eat 10,000. You know what? I will bring some of the new cookbooks to your event because I've got 130 recipes in there. Things that will not make you sick, but I have our people. I always tell them our community. The next time you look at a big bowl of rice or potatoes or bread, just tell yourself, I'm going to go eat a big bowl of sugar because that's exactly what you're doing. And that's sort of shocking. Absolutely. Now, sweet potatoes are a little bit different,

but yeah, no white potatoes, no white potatoes, no pasta, even if it's gluten free. Nope. In fact, gluten free is the biggest scam on the planet because they use that label and they add a whole bunch of sugar in place of it or starch, tapioca starch, those types of things are even worse. Nope. You have to come see us. Yeah. We'll, we'll, we'll get you to fall in love with food that tastes amazing, that loves you back. So, um, you know, I always say, you know, I've been in bad relationships in the past and love with people who didn't love me back. And I'm not doing that with food. I am only going to love something that serves me, that nourishes me, that loves me. Yeah, those back.

Those foods are truly abusive. They're beating the heck out of you. And you're just putting up with it. Oh, no. Gosh. Then we've got to remember exercise, change the diet, figure out a better way to manifest your stress. That's a big thing, I think, particularly for women.

Women, you know, everything I've heard now is people who kind of don't dwell on stress, don't loop, don't, you know, worry. Most women I know, particularly women, don't, you know, worry. Most women I know, particularly women who are moms, you know, worry is their middle name. And then someone tells us not to worry, which makes us worry more. And then someone tells us to relax and then I get irritated. So I think there are a lot of things that, you know, women have 52% less serotonin than men? And when serotonin goes low in your brain, your brain starts to overfire and you worry, you hold on to negative things. If things don't go a certain way, you can be upset.

And you're much more vulnerable to depression, which doubles or triples the risk for Alzheimer's disease. So women have twice the risk of depression as men. And sugar increases serotonin in the brain. So it makes people feel good, which is why there's always this fight about sugar. But exercise increases serotonin. And the spice saffron. I love that spice because it's been shown to have antidepressant effects and it helps memory. So, you know, I know it's the world's most expensive spice, but put it in everything.

Saffron. OK, on my goes on my chicken. It goes in my salad. OK, I'll try. I'm'm gonna bring you some fun cookbooks okay that's great you have been awesome well thank you and thank you for all that you're doing i'm glad to be in this uh space really with you and it's a space i call this really the ultimate women's empowerment issue because it does impact families, you know, financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically. And I've always said to women who go, well, you know, it's really not my thing. And I go, well, is losing your mind your thing?

Using your mind to get to that C-suite that you always wanted and then you lose your mind, is that your thing? So I think that we can be empowered and we can raise our children differently we can educate our workspaces differently we can be different kinds of bosses we can be different kinds of caregivers this is going to impact every family in this country this is a a global biomedical crisis, and this is one that I really do believe if we all put our minds to it, we can beat. But we've got to have a collective movement here, and we've got to get going.

Well, we are so grateful for your effort, and we are warriors with you. Thank you. Looking so forward to seeing you at this year's event. And I'd love to tell you also, I've just done a big coloring book called Color Your Mind. You can pre-order it on Amazon now. And I'm really excited about it. I think it's informative.

It's inspiring. It's really groundbreaking because when my dad had Alzheimer's, there was very little that I could do with him other than walk in the beginning. And this coloring book is really informative for caregivers. And it's also a shared activity that kids can do with a grandparent or a loved one. So I'm really hopeful that this will bring a lot of great information to caregivers and people who love those who have Alzheimer's and other dementias. So the book is called Color Your Mind. Love that. You can pre-order it on Amazon.

It's an adult-colory book. It's festive. That's so cool. It's bright. It's fun. And it's a tool to bring you closer to someone that you care about. Great. Stay with us. You're listening to the Brain Warriors Way podcast.

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