"The thing I was most impressed with in the course is the ability to re-circuit your brain," said Highland Springs resident and program participant Clyde Jackson. "Anything new, physically or mentally, will help create new circuits in your brain. One exercise we tried in the program was reading upside-down. That was a good one."

The program was based on four principals: exercise, brain exercises, diet, and stress management.

Jackson said he exercises more at Highland Springs because resources like the fitness center are right there on campus. He also reads a lot but admitted he needs to do more mental exercises, like puzzles, which researchers recommend. He acknowledged his diet has gotten better since he moved to Highland Springs, where the on-site restaurants offer items like fish, blueberries, bananas, and chocolate—antioxidant-rich foods that Jackson learned are beneficial to memory.

Highland Springs Resident Life Director Monica Lewis-McCommas, who is in charge of the memory fitness program, said Erickson plans to expand it in 2009 to all of its properties.

"It’s about wanting to change your behavior and really doing it," said Lewis-McCommas. "It gives you the tools to work with, and it gives people something to hold onto."

A family disease
Mary Norman, M.D., medical director at Highland Springs, said it’s always better to work from a prevention and preservation aspect. Because prevention is paramount, Norman encourages people worried about Alzheimer’s to check their blood pressure and cholesterol regularly, exercise daily, and eat right.

If there is a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, Norman said, the focus shifts from prevention to slowing the progression of the disease.

Norman knows the progression not only from a medical perspective but from a personal one as well. Her stepmother is in the late stages of the disease. Norman said it was helpful in the early stages to know what to expect; but now that her stepmother is in late-stage Alzheimer’s, it just makes it that much more heart-wrenching to watch.

"The one thing that comforts me is the knowledge that researchers are close to coming up with new Alzheimer’s medicines," Norman said.

"My hope is that in ten years, this will be a very different type of disease to deal with."