Happy & Healthy with Amy

If your mom or dad has been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), does that mean they have Alzheimer's disease? Not necessarily. MCI and dementia describe changes in memory and thinking. But neither diagnosis, by itself, tells you what's causing those changes. And Alzheimer's isn't the only possibility. So how do doctors figure out whether it's actually Alzheimer...

What if protecting your kids from failure is actually making it harder for them to succeed? As parents, we want to make life easier for our children. We often step in when they're struggling, solve problems before they get too big, and try to spare them from disappointment. After all, isn't that what good parents do? But what if...  When we constantly rescue our kids, we unintentionally...

If Alzheimer’s starts in the brain years—sometimes decades—before symptoms appear, why wait until memory problems begin to treat it? That’s the question behind today’s episode. The newer Alzheimer’s drugs Leqembi and Kisunla appear to offer the most promising results when treatment starts early. But “early” doesn’t currently mean before symptoms. So how early can you take them? In this episode, Am...

If Alzheimer’s runs in your family, you may find yourself wondering: Is this going to happen to me? You may worry about losing your memory, your independence, or your ability to make your own decisions. And every forgotten name or misplaced pair of glasses can suddenly feel a little more loaded. But here’s what I want you to know: your genes are not your destiny. We now know that the brain changes...

You hear the phrase Alzheimer’s prevention all the time. But what if the disease process has already started before you know it? What if Alzheimer’s-related changes are already happening in your brain—but you have no memory problems, no cognitive symptoms, and no idea anything is going on? Can we still call that prevention? And here’s another question: As Alzheimer’s testing gets earlier and more...

You probably already know that memory changes can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s. But what about taking twice as long to finish familiar tasks? Or becoming more withdrawn?  Those are the kinds of changes most people never connect to brain health. And that creates a problem: if you’re only watching for memory loss, you may be overlooking other changes worth paying attention to. In the previous epi...

You forget a word you’ve known forever. Miss an appointment you normally would never forget. Or maybe your mom tells the same story three times during dinner. And suddenly the thought appears: What if this is Alzheimer’s? Then comes the question that can keep people stuck for months—or even years: Do I really want to know? In this episode of Happy & Healthy with Amy , we’re talking about why s...

Your mom or dad has been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s, and the neurologist says Leqembi or Kisunla may be an option. Now comes the harder question: Just because they qualify, does that mean treatment is actually worth it? There are a few pieces of information that can meaningfully change that answer. Some are obvious. Others are easy to misunderstand. And one commo...

If your mom or dad has been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s, you may be weighing whether one of the newer treatments— Leqembi or Kisunla —could be worth considering. And then you hear the words brain swelling and bleeding . For a lot of families, that’s the moment the conversation stops. But here’s the problem: those words don’t tell you the whole story...

If your mom or dad has been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease, you may suddenly be facing a decision you never expected to make: Should they take Leqembi or Kisunla? And if you’ve already read headlines saying anti-amyloid drugs offer little to no clinically meaningful benefit, that decision gets even more confusing. In this episode, I’m taking a closer look at...

What if some of what you’ve been told about exercise and aging is incomplete? Maybe you’ve heard you need to walk more. Lift heavy. Work on your grip strength. Or simply accept that more aches, less strength, and declining mobility are inevitable as you get older. But which of those things actually matter most if your goal is to protect your brain, stay independent, and keep doing the things you l...

Have you ever reached for a glass of wine, a bowl of ice cream, or another familiar comfort at the end of a stressful day—without feeling as though you consciously made the decision? An urge can feel like a command. But it is actually information. In Part 3 of the Name It to Navigate It series, Amy explains how emotions create urges and why your brain automatically reaches for familiar ways to fin...

What emotions can you recognize in your body while they are happening? For many of us, the list is limited to happy, sad, and angry. But trying to understand your emotional experience with only three words is like trying to draw a sunset with three crayons. You might capture the general idea, but you will miss important shades, details, and information. In Part 2 of the Name It to Navigate It seri...

Have you ever eaten a bag of chips or a bowl of ice cream even though you want to lose some weight and you weren't physically hungry? Or skipped the walk you planned to take? Or stayed up late scrolling on your phone even though you promised yourself you would go to bed earlier that night? So why did you give in to the urge and what can you do about it? In Part 1 of the three-part Name It to...

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “I’m just not disciplined enough,” “I have no willpower,” or “Why can’t I figure this out?” In the moment, these thoughts can feel like facts. But they may actually be limiting beliefs your brain has accepted without considering all the evidence. In this episode, I’m sharing one simple question that can help you challenge a limiting belief in about 10 second...

After an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, the conversations are only part of the work. The next step is making sure the right plans, documents, passwords, wishes, and decision-makers are in place — before a crisis forces your family to guess. In Part 3 of this three-part series, Amy and end-of-life doula Sandra Newsome talk about the practical details families need to consider, including healthcare proxy, a...

The conversations that follow an Alzheimer’s diagnosis can feel tender, awkward, and overwhelming. But avoiding them does not make them easier. In this episode, Amy and end-of-life doula Sandra Newsome walk through a practical conversation starter guide that can help you begin with more calm, clarity, and compassion. What to Listen For [00:47] The tender place many families start from.  [01:40] Th...

When a parent receives an Alzheimer’s diagnosis , it can feel like everything becomes urgent overnight. What do we do first? What conversations need to happen now? And how do we talk about end-of-life wishes without making it feel like we’re rushing things? In Part 1 of this three-part series, Amy talks with Sandra Newsome, an end-of-life doula, about why timing matters, why families avoid talking...

What if protecting your brain could start with your very next meal? In this episode of Happy & Healthy with Amy , Amy explains why the MIND diet may be one of the most powerful tools you have for supporting brain health and reducing your risk of cognitive decline. Rather than focusing on one “magic” brain food, Amy walks you through how this eating pattern helps create a healthier internal env...

If your mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, you may already be wondering, “Am I next?” But if your dad, husband, brother, or partner is the one you’re worried about, this episode is for you too. Amy breaks down the differences in Alzheimer’s risk in women and men, including why women carry more modifiable risk factors, why certain risk factors may hit women’s cognition harder, and why Alzheimer’s...

What if amyloid is only the match, tau is the brush fire, and neuroinflammation is the wildfire that causes the most damage in Alzheimer’s disease? In this episode of Happy & Healthy with Amy , Amy explains why researchers are paying closer attention to neuroinflammation, what may be keeping the brain’s immune system stuck in the “on” position, and why midlife is such an important window for p...

If your parent was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, you may have heard about the latest Alzheimer’s treatments - Kisunla and Lequembi - being described as breakthrough "disease-modifying" drugs. And yes, the science is promising in some ways. But here’s the part most families are not told clearly: a drug may successfully remove amyloid from the brain and still not create a meaningful...

If your mom or dad was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, you may already feel the weight of caregiving starting to land on your shoulders. But here’s the good news: being the primary caregiver does not mean doing it alone. In this episode of Happy & Healthy with Amy , Amy walks you through how to build an Alzheimer’s care team early, before caregiving by default becomes an unwanted reality....

If your mom or dad was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, your brain may be trying to solve everything at once. What does this mean? How fast will it progress? Are they safe? What questions should you ask? And what are you supposed to do first? In this episode of Happy & Healthy with Amy , Amy walks you through a a practical checklist to help you move from panic and overwhelm into clarity, groun...

If your mom or dad was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's, you're probably wondering: am I next? Watching a parent receive this diagnosis can make every forgotten word, every misplaced key, every moment of brain fog feel suddenly loaded with meaning. In this episode, Amy answers the question directly — with science, with compassion, and with her own deeply personal experience of watching tw...