Cognitive decline is rising worldwide, and the forces behind it reach well beyond genetics. Dr. Suzanne Gazda examines the environmental and infectious drivers of the trend, including Long COVID as an independent risk factor for neurodegeneration, then shifts to what clinicians can actually do about it. She covers lifestyle interventions, plasma biomarkers that allow earlier Alzheimer’s diagnosis, the emerging interest in lithium, and the treatments now appearing on the horizon. The throughline is that early dementia is more actionable than it’s often treated as.

Learning objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize the global decline in cognitive health and the scale of the trend.
2. Describe Long COVID as an independent risk factor for neurodegenerative disease.
3. Identify environmental factors contributing to dementia.
4. Apply lifestyle interventions as tools for brain health and recovery.
5. Understand the role of plasma biomarkers in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
6. Examine the hypothesis that lithium deficiency may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
7. Review supplements relevant to brain health.
8. Survey emerging treatments on the Alzheimer’s horizon.