Another round of classes to prevent or delay a cognitive disease is happening next week with Greene County Public Health.

The Unlocking Brain Fitness: Keys to Dementia Prevention is a ten-week course, led by Greene County Public Health Director Becky Wolf and Public Health Registered Nurse Deb Hoskins, along with several other experts to cover a variety of topics. Those topics include diet, exercise, sleep, chronic diseases, medications, water intake, stress, hearing and socialization. Wolf notes this evidence-based research, doctor-developed program can reduce the risk of dementia in some individuals, as much as 70-percent. 

Wolf points out one of the main symptoms with dementia is forgetfulness, where a lot of mental errors are happening to someone when they don’t usually make mistakes. She talks about how those individuals early on self-deny they are having issues.

“It’s possible that they’re trying really, really hard to appear normal because they don’t want anybody else to know. They don’t want their family to know that they’re struggling, they don’t want their friends to know, they’re trying really hard to appear normal. But sometimes you can kind of see that they have that ‘befuddled’ look. There is no cure for dementia but there are ways to prevent it.”     

KEYS is through a partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association and the YMCA of Greater Des Moines. This program is specifically designed for individuals who are 55 and older and have not been diagnosed with dementia or have significant cognitive decline. The classes will be every Tuesday from 1-3pm from February 28th through May 2nd at the Greene County Community Center in Jefferson. The cost to participate is $20 per person and to register, contact Greene County Public Health at 515-386-3228.