GREAT LAKES LIVECAST. DR MITCHELL. DEMENTIA IN AFRICAN AMERICANS OVER 50

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:03]Hello.

[00:00:06]Give us give me one second, Jamie. Let me get get up in here.

[00:00:28]>> She's on. She on there.

[00:00:31]>> Good afternoon, Jamie.

[00:00:33]>> There you go.

[00:00:34]>> Hi, Bam. It's nice to meet you.

[00:00:38]>> Feel like I know you. I've been watching your episodes.

[00:00:43]>> We appreciate it. We appreciate it.

[00:00:48]>> Hi. Nice to meet you.

[00:00:53]>> Watching your episodes.

[00:01:00]All right. So, um, good good afternoon everybody.

[00:01:05]Today is uh, what's the day? Oh, today is May 30th, Saturday, May 30th. Great lakes live cast. Uh, we're here with a very special guest. I'm uh, Jamaican >> and we are here with a very, very special guest. You guys very special guest.

[00:01:23]>> That's too much for me today.

[00:01:27]And um this is actual Dr. Jamie Mitchell. Uh she's a professor from the University of Michigan.

[00:01:38]I just want to give her her accolades.

[00:01:40]Let people know that this is somebody that knows what they're talking about.

[00:01:44]This ain't just somebody we found. This is an actual real person with a PhD. Uh she has a PhD in social work from the Ohio State. She has a BA in psychology from the Ohio State and she has a MSW which is a master of social work from the University of Tennessee. It is considered the gold standard for entering her field, you know. So, um it's I'm so proud of you and it's a honor to know you and have you on our podcast. So, we appreciate it.

[00:02:20]>> Thanks for hyping me up.

[00:02:24]So today you guys um we want to talk about brain health and Africanameans over the age of 50.

[00:02:37]So um and we want to know why is more um you know why are are are we more likely to be affected by it than our white peers?

[00:02:50]>> Yeah. Why is that?

[00:02:52]So, the the first question I got, Lucas, Steve, what's up? Uh, Esarel Demunez, we appreciate we appreciate you joining in.

[00:03:03]Uh, the first question I have for you, Jamie, is what exactly is dementia?

[00:03:10]>> Yeah, >> that's a great question. Um, so dementia is a a a it's like a umbrella term, you know, it's it's a big name for a lot of brain diseases that fall under that, right? So, uh, think of an umbrella and then all the different types of dementia are like the little raindrops underneath. Um, but essentially it is it's it's a a type of a brain disease just like coronary artery disease. It's a type of heart disease, right? So, it's a um it's a type of brain disease that is characterized by the fact that there is damage to the nerve cells in your brain. Those are called neurons, by the way, but they're really important for things like thinking, walking, talking, you know, functioning in daily life. And so, if they get damaged, your ability to do those things will progressively get damaged and, you know, um stop working as well, right? Um and so there are lots of different types of dementia. you know, Alzheimer's is one of them, the most common type, but that's just one type. But essentially, it's it's a it's a brain disease. Yeah.

[00:04:13]>> So, so once the the brain is damaged, there's no way to fix it or is there any medication for it or no?

[00:04:22]>> So, um dementia as the umbrella and then all the different types of dementia underneath like Alzheimer's disease, which is like the most common one. When people say, you know, dementia, they're usually thinking about Alzheimer's disease. Um, as far as I know, as of today, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease or or for dementia.

[00:04:42]>> Yeah.

[00:04:46]>> Oh, I want to wait. I was like, I want to pause and make sure.

[00:04:50]>> So, yeah, there's no there's >> you're good. Okay, sweet. There is no cure. Um, there are ways to uh slow it down. There's certainly lots that you can do to prevent it, especially if you're on the side of it where you're like, "Hey, I'm thinking ahead about what I want to do to prevent this from happening or do my best to prevent it from happening.

[00:05:08]You know, once you're kind of on that train, it's going in that direction."

[00:05:13]Yeah.

[00:05:14]Is is there are there any like um not just being forgetfulness or whatever like that. Is there any type of symptoms or anything that somebody should should look out for or be cognizant of of older people or or myself? You know, is there things that we should look out for as far as >> Absolutely. Oh, yeah. Everything has signs and symptoms, right? First, let me just say because I know we'll probably talk about risk factors.

[00:05:44]Is there risk for >> risk factor for uh developing dementia is just living long enough, just getting older, right?

[00:05:54]>> Oh, sorry, heard a little feedback. Uh so it is um so it's it's incredibly common, but the issue is that it's common amongst folks typically over the age of like 70, 75, right? Like the risk goes up the longer you live, right? Uh because just like you know you um begin to walk a little differently as you get older, other things stop working. The brain also builds up you know some proteins and some things you know just things begin to to to deteriorate as you get older. And so that's just the biggest risk factor, right? But then when you ask like um well we'll get to the point about like why black and brown folks may have higher risk factors at earlier ages, but to your question about signs and symptoms, there are plenty.

[00:06:34]Um, so things like um forgetting things that you have learned and that you know that you know and I'm not talking about normal aging. I set my keys down and I for you know I went to a room forgot why I was there. You know we all do that as we get older right? But I'm talking about things that you know that you have learned that you should have committed to memory. You know things like your children's names right? How to get home.

[00:07:05]and to solve like basic problems, you know, if you lose that ability or all of a sudden that becomes really difficult for you. Um, if you're having trouble all of a sudden, you know, with things like speaking and writing words that you know, you know, u nothing new to you and all of a sudden, I'm not talking about like, oh, I forgot the word for that, but like literally, uh, things that should be in your everyday language.

[00:07:26]Now, you can no longer, you know, locate that. You can't write it. um things like decreased and poor judgment, not only things like um falling, you know, maybe being more susceptible to being scammed because, you know, lots of older adults may fall into that category. Um but also things like hygiene, right? Like all of a sudden, you know, you you take care of yourself, you groom well, you know, you like to get get up, get, you know, get dressed, get going, and you no longer >> take baths.

[00:07:56]>> Listen, it's a struggling is a struggle.

[00:07:57]Period. We all we all have moments, right? But I'm talking about like if folks are, you know, all of a sudden falling off a cliff with, you know, cognitively with the stuff that they used to do all the time and now they can't do it anymore. That's going to be an issue. Also, really stark changes in like your mood, your personality, and your behaviors. So, all of a sudden, you're suspicious. You are, you know, bursts of anger and that's not really who you've been and now all of a sudden you're, you know, you got outbursts all the time, right? Or you're seriously depressed and it's like that. it's overnight, you know, as opposed to it being something that, you know, has built up over time. So, lots of those things that family members um or folks who are around you all the time tend to notice about you would clue them in to maybe have you assessed for something.

[00:08:41]>> So, so Jamie, is is it hereditary? So, if my mom has it, what's the what's the chances that I would develop it?

[00:08:50]>> That's a good question. Um so in in in research we talk about variability right we talk about this concept of looking at all the people who have dementia right who develop all types of dementia you know big umbrella term dementia you know what separates one person who gets dementia from the other person who gets dementia right u and so what we know from you know research over the past you know generation or so say 20 years or so is that there's only genetic only contributes about 25% to that variability between any two people. So about a quarter, you know, one little slice of the pie, 25% we can definitely count to genetics. 75% three4s is going to be lifestyle. It's going to be stuff that we can do that we do do that we can prevent that we can change that is actionable. So yeah, 25% is nothing to laugh at. So it's definitely there. You know, if you have a 25% that's a big percentage.

[00:09:50]>> That's a that's a big percentage, right?

[00:09:52]But still and and still it's not the it's it it's it's the smallest piece of the pie. Yeah.

[00:09:59]>> Okay. So, you got dementia and you got um Alzheimer's. What's the what's the difference?

[00:10:07]>> So, dementia is the big term that characterize just like how we say cancer. But in reality, what we know is that there are gazillions of types of cancer. breast cancer, prostate cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer.

[00:10:19]Right? So that's how we say dementia, but in reality, there are different types of dementia, right? Alzheimer's disease is one type of dementia. It's the it's the most common type, not the only type, but it's the most common type.

[00:10:34]>> Okay. Okay. I I have a question. Um Jamie, because I I read this, I did a little bit of research and it says that one of the causes of dementia is systemic socioeconomic disparities. So what are they talking about when they say that?

[00:10:53]>> Okay, so that's a big um it's a big picture.

[00:10:58]When we talk about socioeconomic disparities, we're talking about the types of conditions in which people live, work, worship, play, hang out that puts them at a disadvantage compared to people or communities that have more resources, right? And specifically more resources to be healthy, right? So, for example, if you are, you know, growing up um in a community that doesn't have a lot of health care centers, doesn't have a main hospital, right? Plenty of rural communities, also plenty of urban communities, right? If you're growing up in um a community where you can't take really daily walks because either it's unsafe or there's no sidewalks, you know, or it's too polluted outside uh or, you know, whatever the case may be, right? you can't actually get the exercise that you need without having to like pay money and go to a gym or something like that. If you're living at a place that doesn't have good public transportation and you don't have a car, how you gonna get to the doctor, right?

[00:11:57]So, all of those types of disadvantages around where you work, what kind of grocery stores are in your neighborhood accessible to you, all those things add risk, right? They also add stress.

[00:12:10]>> They add stress, right? They add stress and inflammation, you know, like it's expensive to be poor. It's stressful to be poor, right? Uh and so if you are in those types of places or if those are the conditions in which you grew up big Jamie like it's stressful to be poor like that's yeah stressful and expensive. Yes.

[00:12:31]>> Right. So those are the kinds of things that when you hear about like oh uh socioeconomics is a risk factor for all these different types of diseases including dementia. That's what they mean. They mean that like all all of these conditions in which you that you're surrounded by that are difficult to escape, you know, put you at a disadvantage in this particular health outcome and lots of other ones too. Uh compared to folks who they got transportation, they live in a decent neighborhood, they got health insurance, they got a job or at least access to income, you know, um if they if they're worried about uh symptoms, they can call somebody up and go to the doctor and get us, you know, get it checked out right away. they don't have to wait, you know, and so they can afford it. So all of those types of things and there's more in there, but yeah, that's the general picture.

[00:13:15]>> So you feel like that's one of the main reasons that our chances of develop developing it is more uh is more Yeah.

[00:13:26]our white our white peers, >> I think. And I'm being a little bit measured because, you know, scientist a good scientist is a humble scientist.

[00:13:35]You know, like we know it's a lot out there that we don't know. Um, I think that is a big part of the picture and those tend to be things that are difficult to change. A lot of people do change them. You get a decent job, your family moves you up out of a neighborhood to a better neighborhood, maybe you get more education. Some of those things are are are changeable, you know, um, but they tend to be big picture stuff. However, when it comes to black folks culturally, right, and and I know we're not a monolith. We're all very different. You know, we do share some some some cultural, you know, traits across the diaspora. Um, so economics plays a role and also our individual choices and how we manage our health also plays a big role. Yeah.

[00:14:25]>> So, so what are some things that you think that you know is it is it drinking? Is it is it smoking or is it just you know I I got the stress aspect.

[00:14:36]Yeah, the stress is in there. You got the stress down. So, um, everything everything that you can do to protect your heart also works to protect your brain.

[00:14:46]>> Okay.

[00:14:47]>> I think that's a great way to sum it up.

[00:14:48]So, if eating healthier food, you know, that has less salt, because we know that salt, you know, is is a challenge, that has less sugar, uh, if those things are helpful for your heart, they're going to be also helpful for your brain. If you know if you are overweight in a way that is problematic because there's some very healthy bigger folks of size and there's some very unhealthy skinny folks. Right?

[00:15:13]So size is not the only determinant.

[00:15:15]>> But if you're if if you are overweight in a way that is a challenge to your health. It's called it's causing sleep apnea. It's putting you at risk of diabetes. It's making it difficult for you to exercise. If losing that weight would take >> Why why are you being shady? Uh, Renzo.

[00:15:32]>> No, I was saying he said he was just why you so good that you said that, you know.

[00:15:40]>> So, so what about football players? Like they had a they got head impacts all day long.

[00:15:45]>> Yeah.

[00:15:45]>> So, is it is it a higher number with like those type individuals also or that doesn't have a ring, you know? So, so I'm not I understand the landscape of CTE generally like I'm you know because I I read a lot of just a lot of stuff but what I don't know so I'm not comfortable you know saying definitively is what the link is between folks who take a lot of head injuries football players are one of those people are one of those groups because you know we see them on TV we know but there's other folks who do that too boxers soccer players who you know who do head shots all that right so athletes who just have head involved sports right um what I don't know definitively is the link between those all those repeated hits to the head, right, that that may cause CTE. Um, and whether or not that CTE is like by itself as a brain injury or CTE also is related to Alzheimer's long term if they live long enough. I don't know that for a fact. I'd have to look that up. Yeah.

[00:16:41]>> You said they live long. You said if they live long enough >> I mean >> I'm sorry.

[00:16:51]So, okay, Jamie, I got another question somebody told me to ask you was, "How do you feel about the medication that they subscribe for um dementia?"

[00:17:03]>> Okay, so I did actually, let me look it up because I mean, not look it up. I have some notes on it because I had to look it up, too. Um, so we're really early. I'll say this on a mass scale in terms of like what people have access to. We are still really early in the medication story around types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. And when I say that, what I mean is that the first thing your doctor tells you when you go to get assessed for Alzheimer's disease is not we already have five drugs that can that can stop this in its tracks. We're not there yet, right? I think I think we have a lot of research going on that wants to move us in that direction, but I don't think we're there yet. a lot of the drugs that are early being tested to not again you cannot reverse it right what we see right now is that you can do your best to prevent it you can also do your best to delay it delay the onset or if you've already been diagnosed but it's in the really early stages what we call like preclinical or mild cognitive impairment right so you just started forgetting stuff but you're not impaired you know most of your life you can still do everything you do right um there are some drugs being tested that and essentially slow things down. So instead of having 10 years left before you lose all of your main function, maybe they're trying to give you 15 years, right? Um we're still early on in that story. Most folks, I will say most average everyday folks don't have access to those types of drugs that are just hitting the market right now and being tested.

[00:18:36]>> Why you Why are they super expensive or something?

[00:18:40]>> They're super expensive. Yeah, for sure.

[00:18:42]any new any new medical advancement is going to be super expensive and you know we we're not going to have any commentary on the current you know state of our our government but that but but there are things happening in science related to public policy you know government policy that is slowing down our ability to kind of get new um new medications and also just new science Uh but so any new drug is going to be super expensive, right? Um also it takes 10 to 15 years sometimes from the time researchers are developing and testing a new drug to getting it you know into what we call clinical trials to like take it from say animals to humans and then to have enough evidence to be able to take it to the government regulators usually that's the FDA and say all right this is safe enough right to start putting it out there and then you got to market it to people you got to let doctors know that it exists you know what I mean like there's a it's a hu the pipeline is so long, right, to get >> So, how did how did the COVID vaccine get get approved so fast and Jamie, not to jump off subject, but that just intrigued me.

[00:19:56]>> Okay. So, I'm not a super co expert. I have one scientific publication on CO, but I will say it's in a really great journal with a really nice a really great team of of colleagues. Um, uh, it's in JAMA. It's in uh the Journal of the American Medical Association. So, but it's not on the drug. It's actually on people's um it's it's on people's scar like people being scared of taking the the the vaccine but um >> right >> so the reason that the COVID 19 vaccine was able to be rolled out so quickly the short of it is that it was based on existing science they did not start from scratch actually there was a black woman on the team right at the center of it I I don't have her name but I can find it for you later uh but yeah black women were right there at the forefront working for the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, uh, on the team that got that that got that vaccine out there. Um, but essentially, oops, there we go. Okay, sorry, I lost for a minute. Essentially, we already had, uh, you know, because COVID, by the way, was not a new disease. We had seen other variations of COVID, right? That's why it was called 19 because we saw it in 19, but we've seen it in previous years. Just it just looked a little different. But essentially, we already had a blueprint for that vaccine from from prior instances that were not global pandemics uh to work from. And so that sped things up basically. Yeah.

[00:21:14]>> Start from scratch. Yeah.

[00:21:16]>> So So when you when you hear about this this disease and whatnot, what what what actually happens to when it when it when it I think is what is it death? So what what does the body forget to breathe or you know what's what's what's how does it cause death?

[00:21:33]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:21:36]>> Okay. So what's happening I have to visualize it. What's happening in the brain? Um and I don't want to mispronounce all of them but essentially there are different types of proteins you know you imagine protein right?

[00:21:50]There are different types of proteins that build up in the brain like plaque, you know, you know, you know what clogged arteries look like, you know, imagine that, but like in the in the pathways of your brain, right? In the in the all the all the pathways, you know, that send signals, your synapses, all that, right? In in the neurons, the the main blood vessels in your brain, they are getting clogged up just the way your arteries in your heart can get clo or going toward your heart can be clogged up, right? But they're getting clogged up with plaque. And so as they are getting clogged up with plaque, it's causing inflammation in the brain. And we know inflammation is a bad thing.

[00:22:24]Stress causes inflammation. Sickness, you know, causes inflammation. When you're, you know, when you got the flu, you know, you feel inflamed, all of that, right? That's why we have antihistamines, right? Um, so when you're when when you have that plaque build up or that protein buildup in the brain, you are disrupting the ability of those neurons to talk to one another and to carry out or to tell the body what to do. So like the brain has to tell the body to breathe, right? Like we think it's a natural process, but it's all kind of working together. That's why when someone experiences brain death, even though their organs are still functioning, right? But if you have brain death, >> the body is not receiving the instructions, right? The lungs are not receiving the instructions to inflate.

[00:23:06]The heart is not receiving the instructions from the brain to beat. So at some point somebody who is brain dead they can only be kept alive by artificial means because the brain is not sending instructions right. So if so what Alzheimer's disease is doing is is it is impeding the ability of the brain to tell the body to function >> to tell the body to do things like to talk right to breathe you know u stuff like that. So eventually that buildup will become so severe over time. That's why it's a progressive disease that gets worse over time. Uh that that functioning will get worse and worse and worse. Uh it's also why we see people who have severe Alzheimer's disease oftentimes older adults will forget to eat. You know, because the body the the brain is not even telling the body you're hungry. You know what I mean?

[00:23:49]They're not they don't even crave that food anymore. They can see a plate of food and look right past it even if they haven't eaten in days, right? Uh so you see that a lot amongst like older adults or like if you're at a memory care facility and you're like why are they working you know why are these folks get on they're they don't they're not getting those instructions those signals right um and so yeah and there's a lot of other things you know involved in that process too but essentially yeah so your body starts to shut down because it's you know the system's no longer receiving instructions and and eventually you know your systems are going to shut down.

[00:24:27]>> That's that's that's scary. That's scary because you figure like your body Yeah.

[00:24:32]>> forgetting to function.

[00:24:34]>> Yeah. Exactly. That's deep.

[00:24:39]>> Yeah.

[00:24:40]>> In severe cases, Jamie, have you seen which I have personally seen where a person uh goes into like a a state of um I can't explain it, but you know what I'm talking about.

[00:24:54]like mentally like their mental stability, their mental >> they just talking. They just talking >> they just talking like memories and stuff like that but it's just constant.

[00:25:03]It's just like >> they don't shut up.

[00:25:05]>> They just don't be quiet like you know what I'm saying? It's like a whole and I've never seen anything like that. It was kind of traumatizing but um she actually passed away from it but before she passed it was a lot of suffering >> and that was towards the end of it. So, um, actually, uh, my people's mom passed away from dementia not too long ago, and that's the state that she was in before she passed. So, she was really broken up about it and just felt like her mom did a lot of suffering that could have been prevented. So, are you familiar with that?

[00:25:42]>> Yes. I I I've I've I've seen it much up close, but I'm familiar with it as a concept. And >> Okay. What I'll say is when you talk to people whose f like when you talk to family members of people with any type of dementia, what you'll often hear them say is like, I know my mom is still in there or I know my dad or my or whoever is still in there because they'll have flashes of sility. They'll have flashes of recognizing you or, you know, saying something coherent and you're like, "Oh, you're in there." But then it could be gone, right? Then it's gone. And so it's it's it's almost like little breakthrough moments where that person's real like you know they essentially this is a person who is fighting to to you know they're fighting their own brain to try to get out something that is recognizable. So just because you're you know your brain isn't um processing words like it's supposed to, right?

[00:26:37]Because of these disruptions of the signals in your brain um and the neurons in your brain. That doesn't mean that you stop understanding or hearing. You can still smell. You can still hear, you hear word, you know, you hear conversations happening around you and you may want to jump in, but then when you open your mouth, your brain cannot is not communicating with your tongue, right, to say the things that you actually want to say. You know, it's it's like it's like it's like clipping the wire, you know what I mean? So there's like a there's a disconnect, right, between what you're trying to get out and then what you can do. And so when you're hearing people, sometimes at least not all, you know, sometimes when you're hearing people babble or try to like say things, but it's nonsensical, >> they might still be in, you know, who they are might still be in there.

[00:27:16]They're still hearing you talk about them and around them.

[00:27:19]>> Not to cut you off, but she actually she experienced that, Jamie. said like, you know, sometimes through all the through all the gibberish, she would just say something cogn she would say something, you know, to let her know she was still in there, but then she would go right back to the other state.

[00:27:37]>> Absolutely. I had my my grandmother was like that. Um, you know, she died back in 2018 and there was just something about my voice. I think that's cuz I was like her only granddaughter and we she was my OG. We spent a ton of time together, you know, over my life. Uh, but there was just something about my voice. I would come home from college. I would come home from grad school. I would come home all these different points in my life before she passed. And she could not recognize anybody sometimes. But then I would come home, she hadn't seen me in six months. And she would say my name immediately, right? So you never know what those triggers are. She, you know, and I said, you know, must be me. I don't know if she never forgot me. I felt very grateful for that. Um, but you know, you never know what those triggers are that will allow people to like bypass what's happening and be able to like just have a moment, right? a moment where they're there with you.

[00:28:23]>> Yeah.

[00:28:24]>> That's I I I wanted to ask you as well, Jamie, are you familiar with this?

[00:28:29]Because I know we discussing brain health and dementia with uh African-Americans and just people in general over 50. But I seen a thing where it says uh strokes and people under 50 are on the rise due to a surge in high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and cholesterol. And then it said coupled with a lazy lifestyle basically and substance abuse.

[00:28:58]These things cause your arteries to harden. So is that what you were talking about as well?

[00:29:06]>> Yeah. Essentially, right? Like it's not a hardening. It's uh but yes, essentially. Right. And so you know earlier when I said anything you can do that's good for your heart will also be good for your brain. It's very similar with, you know, these other conditions that we're talking about, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol. The body is a system, right? So, you can't abuse a part of the system over here on the left and not think you're not going to experience the consequences eventually somewhere on the right. You know what I mean? Like we are one body. Uh and so if you abuse your liver, you know, with drinking a lot, uh you know, at some point that's going to, you know, impact maybe your blood pressure or impact your inflammation or impact your ability to process toxins, whatever the case may be, it's going to affect you somewhere else, right? And I think what ties all of these to um like you know y'all were asking earlier about like why is it that black and brown cases of of of dementia and some of these things um is because these are all considered uh what we call vascular diseases right so hypertension diabetes and high cholesterol specifically those three are are vascular diseases they're going to be things that involve the blood vessels right and putting either pressure on the blood vessels think high blood pressure right you put too much pressure on your blood vessels, right?

[00:30:24]Or you're narrowing your blood vessels.

[00:30:27]That's what cholesterol does. It clogs them up so that blood has less space to get through, right? And eventually shut down. And if you get a real clog, that's a stroke, right? Um because now the you know, and so and then you've got diabetes, which is a metabolic disease, but also has a lot of a lot of connection, a lot of implication for your blood vessels, right? And so these vascular diseases, there's a lot of folks in this country who have two or three, you know, they don't just have one. Imagine the strain that that's putting on the body, right? Uh the body is a system. And so all of that strain on the body is also putting stress on the brain. And so the people who are suffering and trying to manage these diseases when they're younger, they're also stealing some functionality and and time away from their brain health as they get older. If that makes sense.

[00:31:16]Right.

[00:31:17]So, so do you think, my bad, I cut you off. So, so do you think us as African-Americans, you know how we like fried food and we like, you know what I mean, bacon fat and all that type of stuff?

[00:31:31]>> So, is that one of the reasons why we more likely to get it than, you know, because of our diet?

[00:31:37]>> I think that yes. So, when we talk about how like lifestyle is 75%.

[00:31:42]I think that that that's a big picture.

[00:31:44]like you know like you said not all black folks like fried food. Not you know but there are some some traditions that that you know especially if you either raised in the south you had grandparents parents raised in the south you know if you were raised around you know especially older generations.

[00:31:56]>> Yeah we doing percentages Jamie 85% of black people like fried poop. You know what I mean?

[00:32:02]>> I mean everybody need I'm going need to see I'm going need to see the source on that. I'm going to see the source on that. But um you know it's it's delicious, right? And so it's not that you can't have something delicious, but it's like to what degree is it a regular part of your diet, right? Like are you you reaching for it every every every Wednesday, you know, every Wednesday and Friday is the fish fry or whatever or is it like is it like a treat? You know what I mean? And so there are some cultural traditions around food, you know, things like that that do put us at a higher risk factor for, you know, because these things are not when you break it down, you're talking about macronutrients. You're talking about salt, you're talking about sugar, you're talking about fat, you know, you're talking about the type the the the stuff that goes into these delicious foods is also the stuff that, you know, puts you at risk for higher cholesterol, you know what I mean? or raises your your raises your blood pressure if you're doing it too much, right? And so the food is connected. Yeah. It's it's one thing.

[00:33:04]It's not the only thing, but it's one thing.

[00:33:06]>> Yeah. That that that is wild that the stuff you eat uh during your life later on in life can affect your brain health.

[00:33:15]>> Yeah.

[00:33:15]>> And honestly, it's not that late. We're seeing it earlier. We're seeing it earlier.

[00:33:19]>> I see you over there nervous. Yeah, it's just like it's like the way >> said I'm about to start said I'm about to eat a salad right now.

[00:33:28]>> Right.

[00:33:30]It's like it'll take you out later.

[00:33:33]You know, it's just so many variables going on. It's just like >> Yeah.

[00:33:37]>> Could it be me? Then you s they say it's higher in black people and and it's just >> we two to three times more uh susceptible to it than white people, man. So that's that's a big deal.

[00:33:49]Like so if a person was a vegetarian and they ate good they still they never still high. So what it sound like to me is they're not really doing the homework on this actually but it's more so cancer and blood pressure and all that other stuff. Whereas the brain is like she said when you brain dead that's it.

[00:34:07]>> That's it. That's the most powerful thing.

[00:34:08]>> But you know the body still going because it's stuck in that mode. The heart still beating and all that. But it's like once the brain stopped that's it. There's no coming back from a like a scratch. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Something on the head. That's fine.

[00:34:21]>> I'm I'mma diagnose this Jamie, look.

[00:34:25]>> Basically, in life, >> try to have a good diet.

[00:34:31]If you going through a lot of stuff, you know what I mean? People be up out here. That's, excuse my language, that's part of life. Don't let it stress you out to the point where, you know what I'm saying? You holding all that in because that's a factor. your your stress level, your diet, >> but you know, we talk about all the time mental health because me and you okay is somebody else who might not have >> I might not have that willpower. You know what I'm saying? It's like what she what she's saying is like is it funding? Is it is it what is it? Is it could you give us any insight? Is it the is it they need more money on it or do they >> Yeah. What basically what he's saying is what is can they do to to fix it? Like you know what I mean to try to to get the right Yeah, >> more research needed.

[00:35:15]>> So, yeah, >> had a body.

[00:35:17]>> Yeah. Yeah, >> for sure. And also, I don't want to victim blame, you know. So, there's a lot of folks who, you know, despite their best efforts, they just are where they are right now. And we hope they're not going to be there forever. You know, bad we hope bad times don't all don't last, right? But sometimes you're just, you know, you're in a situation, you know, you're you're you're you're in stress, right? You lost your job or you having trouble with your housing, your kids are sick or they're act, you know, whatever is happening. That's life, you know, and it it's difficult when you're in that survival mode, you know, for people to be like, well, let me take a deep breath, you know, let me try to manage my stress, right? They're just trying to get through. But the key is like once you are on the other side, and hopefully you make it onto the other side, then it's like, how can I recalibrate? How can I make sure that I'm not carrying that trauma with me so that I'm always in the fight orflight mode, right? Because that's what's raising your inflammation. That's what's keeping your blood pressure high. You can never get back down to baseline, right? And I'd also, you know, it's connected to, you know, y'all talking about mental health. But to your point, there's a lot that we can do. And that's why I want to say like this is, especially when we're talking about all these vascular diseases, the diabetes, the hypertension. Yes, it's related to and it contributes to dementia, but there's so much we can do at any point to like try to change the trajectory or the trajectory, you know, of maybe some early life acting up, some early life decisions, right? We can we can at any point we can change some stuff. Some of the things that have worked have been trying to um and there's been a there's been a lot of efforts in different cities doing this um but reaching out to folks where they are. So for example, some of the most popular programs around black uh helping black men with hypertension have been like barberhop programs because you have to think like where are we going to find a decent number of black men on any given Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you know, we might be able to catch them at the barber shop, right? uh not not all not all of them, you know, but but everybody needs to line up eventually, right? And so a lot of programs have been uh you know, kind of community B. All right.

[00:37:11]Bam is proving me wrong in real time, y'all. Um you know, I don't know. We gonna have to find you somewhere else, Bam. We g have to find you somewhere else.

[00:37:27]>> But we had we've seen a lot we've seen a lot of >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We've seen a lot of success trying to reach people out where they are in the community, you know what I mean? And to educate them because one of the things that I know like when I go to Costco, when I go to Sam's Club, whatever, I I know I I can pick up a a pack of anything, turn it over. I can read the nutrition label and that means something to me. Like when I see the percentage of sodium on the back, when I see how much fiber or sugar protein is in something, I can make some decisions about whether I want to buy that thing and eat that thing, bring it home based on that. But a lot of people actually don't have that knowledge. That's not something we teach in school typically, right? Like if in a way that education is a privilege, you know what I mean?

[00:38:12]Like being able to make decisions, make better decisions for your health. Being able to pick up, you know, a package of food or be out and and look at a menu and make a make a better decision for your health. That's a privilege, right?

[00:38:24]Not everybody Not everybody has that kind of education. Yeah.

[00:38:27]>> But Jamie, it's like when you at the grocery store, you making life decisions, >> they they may only have >> 50 bucks, right? So they figure they get a gang of ramen noodles versus getting salad. It's it's more expensive to eat healthy versus just going to grab something that's g you through the night or through the week or through the month. You know what I'm saying? That's another thing when you ask No, you're that's the that's the socioeconomic angle that that Renzo was talking about >> at the back of the uh meats and now they got fake meat at Walmart. You know what I'm saying?

[00:38:58]>> You got fake ice cream. You know, it's a lot of things that's not real that you might need to look and see. You know what I mean? You may be allergic to something that that they putting in this stuff in you and you just, you know, you ain't knowing.

[00:39:09]>> You know, next thing you know, you wake up dead >> that but you know what that's the socioeconomic angle that you guys that y'all were talking about early on, you know, it's like what is constraining your decisions, right? You know, all things, you know. Yeah. So, you know, you may not even have the resources to make the best decision for you, you know. So, >> yeah.

[00:39:29]>> Okay. Question for you, Jamie. what made you um want to study dementia?

[00:39:37]>> So, actually I'm a pretty this is a pretty recent like turn into dementia.

[00:39:42]Uh you know, you I've known you obviously all my life. Uh and I started out studying black men's health. I wrote my dissertation about black men and cancer prevention. Um and so for about maybe like 8 to 10 years, I I almost exclusively studied black men's health.

[00:39:58]like black men cancer, black men talking to their doctors how to do that more effectively. Uh a little bit of a little bit of diabetes work. Um and so very recently um >> we were faced with you know essentially >> okay I just want to make sure we were faced with uh like basically cuts to science. the work that we were doing was uh you know defunded by our current situation and we had to make a pivot to a different area the group that I work with and so we said you know what where one where's the money because at the end of the day people care about money science folks in science care about money too and and money rules the day you know and so we were like where is there still money to do good research that could help black and brown people >> so the group that I'm working with, which is actually a wonderful group called Healthier Black Elders in Flint, Michigan. Um, shout out to them. Uh, we we put our, you know, proposal together and we said, can we kind of pivot into this area? Can we learn about it, but can we also teach the community about it as we're learning? And so that's what we're doing. We're we're funded by, uh, the Michigan Health Endowment Fund right now uh, for the next couple years to actually create community curriculum, community resources to teach folks in Flint about, uh, brain health.

[00:41:16]>> Yeah.

[00:41:17]>> Okay. Okay.

[00:41:18]>> That's that's what's up.

[00:41:19]>> Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty it's pretty it's pretty pretty recent for me. So, I'm I'm still I'm still young in the in the in the dementia game, you know.

[00:41:27]>> Well, we definitely appreciate, you know, sharing, you know, sharing the knowledge that that you do have with us.

[00:41:33]>> Um I I also want to know, >> are you done with school? Like, are you ever going to go back study some more stuff? Because I know you got a lot of years of school under your belt.

[00:41:42]>> Got a lot of letters.

[00:41:45]>> Got a lot of letters.

[00:41:47]Renzo, when I tell you I would never go back.

[00:41:50]>> Tuck in.

[00:41:52]>> Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:41:53]>> Yeah. I see. I've seen it. I've seen it.

[00:41:55]Bam. You're not crazy. I've seen it.

[00:41:59]>> Uh, when I tell you honestly from the bottom of my heart, I would never go back to school.

[00:42:04]I would never.

[00:42:07]And I am a professor, so I teach graduate students every week. Okay? So, I I'm I'm an educator, but I would never go back and sit on the other side. Yeah.

[00:42:14]Not not to pay tuition and do I I do take continuing education. I I read. I write science. I do all the things. I'm I would never go back and get another degree. I'm good. I'm good on it.

[00:42:23]>> Yeah.

[00:42:24]>> Wow. Okay.

[00:42:25]>> It's a lot. It took me 10 years. I'm good. Yeah.

[00:42:31]>> I wanted you to share, you know, I know the story because you told me about it when you were studying abroad and uh in South America and you got attacked by some wild dogs. You said, >> why you got bring that up? Okay. Yes, this was this was so many years ago, y'all. We're talking about like 2003.

[00:42:50]Yeah, about 2003, 2004. But yeah, so this was like undergrad. Uh but yes, I did I did study abroad in Ecuador, keto, Ecuador. Um and at that it does not look like keto today. I don't know what's going on today, but back then, beautiful country. Uh you know, I was doing a Spanish language immersion program for like three months. I was living with a family, so I was like a true stu, you know, like like exchange student, except there was no exchange. Um, and I was out jogging because back then I ran. I don't run anymore. I don't have those kind of knees. But back then I still had good knees and I was jogging like around my little my little, you know, uh, Ecuadorian neighborhood. And the way that, you know, in other countries are set up differently, the way that they were set up there at that time, they had like these big like almost like um almost like guard walls, solid concrete.

[00:43:36]So you can't really see, you know, it's like concrete wall. You jog by concrete wall, you can't really see what's coming up on the other side of the wall, right?

[00:43:44]And so I joged by a house that had these big concrete walls, no gate. And it was like two I don't even know if they were like the equivalent of like us pitties or Dobermans or what, but it was two big black dogs that saw me run by and started chasing me. When I tell you >> I ran for my life, I ran for my life.

[00:44:03]And thankfully, I ran high school track.

[00:44:04]So I was only a few years out of my track years, okay? I ran for my life.

[00:44:09]They they got me on the ankle. Okay. And I don't know. I don't remember.

[00:44:16]I don't remember if I kicked them off. I don't know. But they got me.

[00:44:20]>> They got me on the ankle. Um but I kept going. I made it. I made it to safety.

[00:44:26]Or they just was like, "You know what?

[00:44:27]We're not chasing this girl."

[00:44:29]You know, >> listen. Listen. I was not going out in another country.

[00:44:34]>> My parents would have killed me twice. I was not going out in another country.

[00:44:38]So, I made it. But I did have this like >> I just remember you call home and telling us and I was like, "Wow, first of all, what is she doing in South America? I forgot you studying." Yeah.

[00:44:47]And you said it was like a pack of wild dogs. I'm always picturing that. That is crazy, man. But >> I don't know if it was two or five.

[00:44:54]Honestly, I couldn't look back. I just had I just had to run.

[00:44:59]So I still like 20 years later I still have a scar on my ankle to this day where they got me because also then I had to decide like >> do I want to go to a hospital in you know in Ecuador you know that's a whole another risk right there. So I just I dangerous came up with a goddamn >> exactly I didn't want I didn't want to risk it. I said just just wrap me up.

[00:45:23]just wrapped me up, you know, and yeah, so I didn't end up going to the hospital. I just came home with a with a jagged scar, and I was happy to be alive.

[00:45:32]>> Well, Jamie, we we really appreciate you, Dr. Jamie Mitchell, enlightening us on uh dementia and brain health. Uh hopefully a lot of people will look at this and, you know, just kind of think about their lifestyle and think about their loved ones and watch for early symptoms and early signs of it. and we just appreciate you blessing us with your knowledge.

[00:45:54]>> I I got a secret.

[00:45:55]>> Oh, I appreciate that.

[00:45:57]>> I got sometimes I forget >> anything, you know, like I get in the car, godamn phone.

[00:46:11]>> Yeah. Oh, God.

[00:46:12]>> I be forgetting people's names.

[00:46:14]>> I do.

[00:46:14]>> But we we ain't >> No, no, you're fine. I And I know y'all are wrapping up. Uh, can I just throw in one little last thing uh that I just did some research just for this and I want to, you know, make sure y'all have it just in case you're curious about it.

[00:46:28]>> Of course. The floor is >> Okay, I'm gonna be real quick. I know you had previous guests that talked about GLP1s or like, you know, weight loss drugs, ompixics, all those, right?

[00:46:36]And so I was I was, you know, I was study I was studying as you know, as as professors do, right? I was I was watching your past episode. Uh, I I saw your lovely guest and they were talking about it, so I wanted to look it up and it turns out there's some really like fresh, hot off the press 2026, 2025 research that just came out that is testing out some of these drugs and uh how they might actually help Alzheimer's disease later on, you know, and so I actually found a study, I'll send it to y'all afterwards if you want to read it for yourself, but it's a huge study, 85,000 people and 85,000 older adults with type two diabetes. Um and they found that taking some of these newer generation drugs that also obviously were originally formulated for folks who were diabetic or pre-diabetic, right? Um that they uh that the folks who took those drugs in this big study had a 31% lower risk of developing dementia over time than the people who didn't take them. So when I say that there are new there are new things on the horizon you know that we don't know about just yet you know we think about like oh these drugs these WGO and Olympics and GLP1 all the different class of GL what we call GLP ones uh that that they're just for people who are vain or who want to lose weight that's not true they're actually operating in the body in different ways that we are still studying but the same reason that they cause weight loss you know changing the metabolism helping people with their hunger cues but they're also doing things like reducing inflammation, right? And so that same inflammation, that puffiness that your body is going through, that's not, you know, all of that, if they're reducing that in your knees, they're also reducing it in your brain. And so some of this new science that's coming out is really exciting.

[00:48:12]Um, and I'm going to be following it, but just know that, you know, there's so much more that we're going to learn about brain health and even how some of these drugs that seem like they're that folks may be taking them for whatever reason they're taking them, um, they actually may be having some very positive side effects and there's some really good science happening right now that they're studying it. So, I just want to leave you'all with that little nugget of hope that there we appreciate it. We'll pass it on to her so maybe she can pass the study. I'll send you the study people that she work with. Yeah.

[00:48:41]But if you ever want to come back and and and bless us with some more knowledge about whatever, >> like I said, that little tip was >> that that was that was >> I'd love to come back.

[00:48:52]>> Even though you scared the the dickens out of me, I got >> Oh my gosh.

[00:48:56]>> I was not here to scare you, man. I'm here to in Bam. I'm here to inspire you.

[00:49:01]Okay.

[00:49:01]>> Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Because Because to be honest with you, like I know we wrapping up, but I have the means to be able to look at and be like, "Nah, this ain't no good for me." or this is good for me but this you know >> I I will >> well you know what you know what you know what the older folks used to say >> you know >> you know what the old used to say they said >> but you know what the older folks used to say bam they used to say when you know better you do better right so we can only hope that by educ you know by educating folks by giving them the tools that you know they will try to put that into practice that's all we can do >> that's it >> that's it all right we gonna let you get up out of here we gonna get up out of here. We love you. We so proud of you and we will see you in a minute. J >> talking for you girl.

[00:49:46]>> Straight like that.

[00:49:47]>> Straight like that.

[00:49:48]>> Bye.

[00:49:49]>> Bye. Peace.

[00:49:56]>> I click off.

[00:49:58]>> Hey, >> three.

[00:50:04]Sorry.