More women develop Alzheimer’s than men. This app wants to close that gap – National | 24CA News
A majority of individuals dwelling with Alzheimer’s illness are girls, and in wake of the startling stat, some Canadians are hoping to assist mitigate their possibilities with an app that helps promote wholesome mind habits.
Kathy Kelaidis, a busy working mother to 2 younger boys dwelling in Mississauga, Ont., lately downloaded a Canadian app known as BrainMatch, a instrument designed assist ladies and men thrust back brain-aging illnesses.
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Kelaidis, 46, mentioned she was “shocked” by the statistic stating extra girls are extra prone to Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“I have always thought about healthy living, eating well and exercising, but when I heard that stat, I thought, I really need to look into this a bit more and figure out what can I do to protect my brain health,” she defined.
After downloading the app a couple of months in the past, she mentioned she’s been utilizing it every single day and has seen an enormous distinction in her psychological well being.
BrainMatch launched in December 2022 and was created by the Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI), a Canadian charity made up of journalists, neuroscientists and psychologists that goals to teach the general public on girls’s mind well being and supply funding within the area.
Lynn Posluns, president of CEO of WBHI mentioned that regardless that girls are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s, the analysis on the illness is traditionally centered on males.
“So we wanted to level that research playing field,” Posluns mentioned.
The objective of this app is to advertise mind well being by working towards every day and weekly habits like consuming eight glasses of water a day, studying a brand new language and even going bowling, which can assist mitigate your threat of dementia, defined Posluns.
Risk components that seem for dementia, significantly Alzheimer’s illness, embrace hypertension, weight problems and lack of train, despair and low ranges of cognitive engagement, in line with the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.
Although it’s nonetheless unclear why girls are extra susceptible to the illness, the Alzheimer’s Society mentioned some causes might be the altering estrogen degree in a lady’s lifetime and the actual fact girls are inclined to dwell longer than males on common.
“Most people with late onset of Alzheimer’s disease, they tend to show symptoms in their seventies and eighties, sometimes their nineties,” Posluns mentioned.
“But what the science is now showing is that by the time symptoms occur, it’s likely that the damage has happened 20 to 25 years prior. So, it really means that diseases like Alzheimer’s are midlife diseases with symptoms that show up in old age.”
BrainMatch, which could be downloaded free of charge on Andriod or iOS, focuses on creating wholesome habits utilizing the six pillars of mind well being, that are diet, train, psychological stimulation, social actions, sleep and stress administration.
“And if you establish healthy habits in all six, you have a better chance of delaying and possibly preventing dementia because almost 40 per cent of all cases of dementia can be avoided through lifestyle,” Posluns mentioned.
Once downloaded, the app asks the person to fee themselves on a scale between one and 5 for habits like sleep, train, stress and diet. Based on the solutions, it then suggests habits primarily based on the six mind well being pillars, however a person can even create their very own objectives.
The habits could be so simple as consuming eight glasses of water, lowering sodium consumption and limiting display screen time earlier than mattress. Other solutions are extra bold like taking tango classes, studying a brand new instrument and beginning volunteer work.
“The earlier you start engaging in these lifestyle choices, the more protected you will be (from brain-ageing diseases),” Posluns mentioned.
Since the app launched, there have been over 10,000 downloads, with 90 per cent of the customers dwelling in Canada and 10 per cent within the United States.
Kelaidi defined that though she is barely 46 years previous, her objective in utilizing the app is to “be a healthy mom” for her youngsters.
She mentioned BrainMatch helps her accomplish her every day well being objectives of stress administration and diet with the notifications setting choice.
“I always thought that I was fairly good at drinking a lot of water. But after starting to use this app, the first thing that I realized was that I wasn’t hitting the glasses that day that I thought I was. So that was an eye-opener for me,” Kelaidis mentioned.
By setting reminders, she mentioned the app has “kept her on track” to succeed in the every day water objective.
“When you have a busy day, you can easily forget to drink your water or have that fruit and vegetable when you’re eating a quick meal,” she added.
“So it was a great tool to remind you to do it.”
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