Tonight at 5:30 PM MST, join us for a live Poolside Chat as we continue the discussion from our Port of Call Podcast and go deeper into what dementia really is and what it means when you’re just beginning a caregiving journey. Free to join. Come listen, share, or simply be present. February 24th @ 5:30 pm MST Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../register/PRzPtXKIRf-NNdHzhSToUg

Thank you to everyone who was able to join! If you weren't able to join, please watch the recording (Classroom > Poolside Chats Library) Don't forget to join us for the next Poolside on March 24 @ 5:30pm AZ time! https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/PRzPtXKIRf-NNdHzhSToUg Please invite someone to join! Spread the Lifeboat love!

Gum disease raises your dementia risk by 70%. And your dentist probably hasn't mentioned it. Here's why oral health belongs in the brain health conversation: Researchers found a gum disease bacteria called Porphyromonas gingivalis in 96% of Alzheimer's brains examined at autopsy. It shouldn't be there. This pathogen produces toxic enzymes called gingipains that damage the neurons responsible for memory and destroy tau proteins in ways that mirror what we see in Alzheimer's pathology. Oral inflammation also keeps appearing in the same population-level data as high cardiovascular mortality. Not occasionally. Consistently. That's not coincidence. That's a pattern worth taking seriously. Here's what the evidence actually points to: 1. Oral inflammation is a visible early warning signal ↳ Most useful biomarkers require expensive imaging or bloodwork ↳ This one shows up at a routine dental exam that many people already get ↳ We have the signal. We're largely ignoring it. 2. The body doesn't work in pieces. Our healthcare system does. ↳ Cardiovascular, brain, and oral health share the same inflammatory pathways ↳ Chronic oral inflammation raises systemic CRP and cytokine levels ↳ Three specialties. One body. Zero communication between them. 3. Dental access is an invisible health equity problem ↳ Many high-cardiovascular-risk patients don't see a dentist regularly ↳ Cost, coverage gaps, or simply not knowing oral health matters systemically ↳ Oral inflammation goes undetected in exactly the people who need the signal most 4. The causal question is still open and I want to be honest about that ↳ Long-term studies confirming direct causation between oral health and dementia are limited ↳ What the evidence supports is strong biological association and plausibility ↳ But association this consistent still changes what I screen for I'm not suggesting dentists become cardiologists. I'm suggesting that when the same inflammatory signal keeps appearing alongside cardiovascular mortality and neurodegeneration, treating it as a separate dental problem is a choice our system is making for us. Not a scientific conclusion.

I'm a dementia doctor. And I check my blood pressure regularly. Not because I'm worried about a heart attack. Because new genetic evidence shows high blood pressure directly causes dementia. Not just "associated with." Causes. A massive study from Denmark and the UK analyzed genetic data to separate correlation from causation. High blood pressure and obesity don't just increase dementia risk. They trigger it. This changes everything about how I think about prevention. For years, we told patients: control your blood pressure to reduce dementia risk. Now we know: control your blood pressure because it's causing brain damage. Same advice. Different urgency. Here's what I do personally: I check my blood pressure at home weekly. Target: under 120/80. I track my weight daily. Not for vanity. For my brain. I adjusted my diet years ago when my fasting insulin started creeping up. Insulin resistance is another direct cause. I exercise 6 days a week. Zone 2 cardio. Resistance training. Not negotiable. I'm 42. I've diagnosed over 1,000 cases of dementia. I know what's coming if I don't intervene now. The beautiful thing about this research: these are fixable problems. You can't change your genes. You can't reverse your age. But you can control your blood pressure. You can manage your weight. You can improve your metabolic health. These aren't risk factors anymore. They're causes. That means they're also solutions. Start now. Not when symptoms appear. By then, the damage is done. ⁉️ When was the last time you checked your blood pressure at home? 👉 Follow Reza Hosseini Ghomi, MD, MSE for practical brain health strategies Citations: Nordestgaard et al.High body mass index as a causal risk factor for vascular-related dementia: evidence from Mendelian randomization analyses.The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2026.

Recently I was irritated with a friend, but I didn't want her to know about it, so I hid it. I pretended not to be irritated. I thought I was doing a really good job of acting and she would never suspect it. What a ridiculous thought. She didn't know exactly what was wrong, but she knew something wasn't right. My friend was left spinning in confusion, making guesses, and trying to figure out what was going on between us. I was left in a spin also and felt confused, conflicted and unsure what to do about it. This was not kind. This was not me being a good friend. This was not me at my best. This was me being a coward and hiding so that I could try to stay safe and calling it, "being considerate of her feelings." What a load of crap. Do you know what is so much better than pretending? Telling the truth. I'm not talking about blaming someone else for your emotions, but I am talking about being more genuine. So, I gathered up my courage and told her, "I'm struggling with all of this right now and I'm frustrating myself with the way I'm approaching it all. I may need to talk through it with you later, but I need to sort through some of these feelings first and then I will reach out. I love you and I love our friendship, and I know we will figure it out together." That's the opposite of pretending. That's the honest, messy, lovable truth. Next time I'm doing that right from the start. Give it a try the next time you are annoyed with someone you love. I dare you. ---- Thank you, @Jocelyn Ives