{"id":16247,"date":"2025-11-12T11:10:40","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T16:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=16247"},"modified":"2025-11-13T14:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T19:35:09","slug":"the-rappahannock-rapidan-health-district-health-department-encourages-you-to-boost-your-brain-health","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/the-rappahannock-rapidan-health-district-health-department-encourages-you-to-boost-your-brain-health\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department Encourages You to Boost Your Brain Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>November 11, 2025<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact: <\/strong>Dr. Zelalem Attlee, <u><a href=\"mailto:Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov\">Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District<\/strong> <strong>Health Department Encourages You to Boost Your Brain Health<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>November is Alzheimer Awareness Month<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Warrenton, Va. \u2013 The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department is marking <u><a href=\"https:\/\/alzfdn.org\/alzawarenessmonth\/\">Alzheimer\u2019s Awareness Month<\/a><\/u>\u00a0with a powerful message about protecting your brain. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/alzheimers-disease-and-dementia\/\">Alzheimer\u2019s Disease<\/a><\/u>\u00a0is a degenerative brain disease. It is the most common cause of dementia. While there is no cure for Alzheimer\u2019s disease, there are steps you can take to lower your risk.<\/p>\n<p>In Virginia, <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/alzheimers-disease-and-dementia\/#anchor2\">164,000 people over the age of 65<\/a><\/u>\u00a0are living with Alzheimer\u2019s Disease today. More than 346,000 unpaid caregivers, most are family members, provide 670 million hours of care totaling more than $12.5 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Age is the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer\u2019s Disease, but no form of dementia is a normal part of aging. Other risk factors include family history, race\/ethnicity, poor heart health, and traumatic brain injury. Keeping both your brain and body healthy is an important way to lower your risk of Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlzheimer\u2019s impacts not only individuals, but families and entire communities,\u201d said Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Director J. Carr, M.D. \u201cThis month, we reaffirm our commitment to raising awareness, supporting caregivers, and promoting early detection for better outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department recommends these <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2023\/11\/6-Brain-Health-is-Optimal-Health-Fact-Sheets-FINAL.pdf\">healthy brain habits<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Give up tobacco products. <\/strong>If you need help, call Quit Now Virginia at 1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be Social. <\/strong>Stay connected with family, friends, and members of your community.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Schedule Regular Checkups. <\/strong>See your doctor for routine screenings and vaccinations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get Good Sleep. <\/strong>Try to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep every day.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eat a Healthy Diet. <\/strong>Go with a heart-healthy diet with lots of fruits, leafy vegetables, fish, and low-fat protein.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get Moving. <\/strong>Take a walk, bike ride or work in the garden. Aim for two and a half hours of moderate activity a week.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Limit alcohol. <\/strong>Limit alcoholic drinks to no more than two a day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Controlling high blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol are also important. Each is associated with a higher risk of dementia.<\/p>\n<p>You can find more resources on the VDH <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/resources\/\">Brain Health <\/a><\/u>page, \u00a0or contact The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department at <u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rrhd.org\">www.rrhd.org<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>November 11, 2025 Media Contact: Dr. Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department Encourages You to Boost Your Brain Health November is Alzheimer Awareness Month Warrenton, Va. \u2013 The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department is marking Alzheimer\u2019s Awareness Month\u00a0with a powerful message about protecting your brain. Alzheimer\u2019s Disease\u00a0is a degenerative brain disease. It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":0,"parent":12292,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[1314,1315],"class_list":["post-16247","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-alzheimers","tag-brain"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department Encourages You to Boost Your Brain Health - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/the-rappahannock-rapidan-health-district-health-department-encourages-you-to-boost-your-brain-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department Encourages You to Boost Your Brain Health - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"November 11, 2025 Media Contact: Dr. Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department Encourages You to Boost Your Brain Health November is Alzheimer Awareness Month Warrenton, Va. \u2013 The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Health Department is marking Alzheimer\u2019s Awareness Month\u00a0with a powerful message about protecting your brain. Alzheimer\u2019s Disease\u00a0is a degenerative brain disease. 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