Dr. Gary Small, former Director of UCLA’s Longevity Center and currently Behavioral Health Physician-in-Chief at Hackensack Meridian Health, believes lifestyle choices can eclipse genetics to stymie Alzheimer’s disease. Genetics influences cognitive health, Dr. Small acknowledges, but physical and mental exercise, managing stress and eating well can counteract the disease as individuals age. Even if people are at genetic risk, their behavior and length of life will determine if they get the disease, he says. Dr. Small is sanguine about the future, as studies show that lifestyle changes do lower the rate of contracting Alzheimer’s. The high hurdle to cross, he concedes, is motivating people — in a pill-dependent society — to live healthier lives. Nationally renowned psychiatrist Gary W. Small, M.D., joined Hackensack Meridian Health as its Behavioral Health Physician-in-Chief on November 1, 2020. In this newly created position, Dr. Small oversees all professional and administrative activities within the behavioral health care transformation service at Hackensack Meridian Health, as well as serving as Chair of Psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center. Prior to joining Hackensack Meridian Health, Dr. Small was a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, Parlow-Solomon professor on aging at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior and director of the UCLA Longevity Center. Dr. Small is known nationally and internationally for his public work in promoting the practice of psychiatry and innovative research on brain health and aging. Dr. Small has authored more than 500 scientific publications as well as the international best-seller, The Memory Bible. Small’s research has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, London Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, and Newsweek. Dr. Small's media links- Website: htthttp://drgarysmall.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrGarySmallFanPage/ Twitter: @drgarysmall Thank you to our Cutting Edge Health supporters: CZTL Methylene Blue Get a $10 discount by using this link: https://cztl.bz?ref=3OqY9 on an order of $70 or more OR use this discount code at checkout: jane10 Renue by Science: 10% off NMN https://renuebyscience.com/product/pure-nmn-sublingual-powder-30-grams/ Enter jane10 at checkout for 10% off. Cutting Edge Health podcast website: https://cuttingedgehealth.com/ Cutting Edge Health Social and YouTube: YouTube channel: youtube.com/@cuttingedgehealthpodcast Instagram - https://instagram.com/cuttingedgehealthpodcast Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Cutting-Edge-Health-Podcast-with-Jane-Rogers-101036902255756 Please note that the information provided in this show is not medical advice, nor should it be taken or applied as a replacement for medical advice. The Cutting Edge Health podcast, its employees, guests and affiliates assume no liability for the application of the information discussed. Special thanks to Alan, Maria, Louis and Nicole on the Cutting Edge Health team!

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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