Extend Podcast with Darshan Shah, MD 102. Max Lugavere: How to Prevent Alzheimer's 30 Years Before Symptoms
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Oct 9, 2025 
Max Lugavere, a health journalist and bestselling author, discusses how environmental factors and metabolic health can influence brain aging. He reveals that Alzheimer's pathology can start decades before symptoms emerge, urging early preventive measures. They explore the dangers of certain environmental toxins, like those found near golf courses, and the surprising impact of mouthwash on hypertension. Additionally, Lugavere emphasizes lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, as crucial for reducing Alzheimer's risk and improving overall brain health.
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Personal Catalyst For Brain Research
- Max began investigating brain health after his mother developed Lewy body dementia and his grandmother remained cognitively sharp into old age.
- That family contrast drove him to study environmental and lifestyle causes of neurodegeneration.
Disease Begins Decades Before Symptoms
- Alzheimer's and Parkinson's start decades before symptoms, which explains many failed drug trials.
- Focus should shift from late-stage treatment to early prevention decades prior.
Different Paths To Cognitive Decline
- Dementia includes Alzheimer's, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and movement disorders like Parkinson's and Lewy body dementia.
- Different mechanisms (vascular, metabolic, environmental) drive different types of neurodegeneration.
