Episode 22: A conversation with Dr. Prather - Lessons in Aging
What if aging well—and lowering your dementia risk—starts with a few surprising, doable shifts you’re not seeing on your social media feed? In this episode of the We’re Good Podcast, host Lee Ann Necessary Brownlee sits down with Dr. Christina Prather, Director of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, to lift the veil on prevention, diagnosis, and care of dementia. She shares plain-spoken secrets that make you lean closer. She explains why some cognitive changes are normal, and the counterintuitive habits that quietly protect your brain. Curious clues abound like the 10 p.m. ritual that lets your brain “take out the trash,” the two-word mantra (“motion is lotion”) that can change your 70s in your 40s, and the overlooked lever most high-achievers neglect—purpose. She decodes study hype and spotlights emerging threads—earlier blood biomarkers, new therapies, and why hormone conversations in perimenopause are being rewritten.
The episode doesn’t dodge the hard stuff. Through one family’s pain, Dr. Prather reframes dementia as an “odyssey,” not a journey, and still finds places for joy. For the caregivers listening, you get a reality check and permission to be human, plus practical on-ramps: where to find support groups, and the books that teach you how to “speak Alzheimer’s.”
Most provocatively, she argues that brain health is a team sport: your text thread, your walking buddy, your book club—the “micro-communities” that normalize what’s typical, flag what’s not, and nudge us to act earlier. If you’re asking, “What should I start this week?” you’ll leave with simple moves, one mindset shift, and her north star.
Listen or watch if you want a science-grounded, hope-forward map for aging well. The secrets aren’t flashy- they’re practical, personal, and hiding in plain sight. Share and follow us at weregood.net
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Connect with Guest
Christina P. Prather, MD, FACP, Director | Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Clinical Director | GW Institute for Brain Health and Dementia, Associate Professor, GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Learn about GW Memory Care
Learn about Brain Health Research at GW
Book suggestions below 🙂
On dementia prevention:
The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline by Dale Bredesen.
The Alzheimer's Prevention Food Guide - https://a.co/d/7Ql6Raz
The Alzheimer's Solution - A Breakthrough Program to Prevent and Reverse the Symptoms of Cognitive Decline -https://a.co/d/1zJp4BO
On dementia and memory loss:
The 36-Hour Day by Nancy L. Mace
Creating Moments of Joy for the Person with Alzheimer’s or Dementia by Jolene Brackley
Learning to Speak Alzheimer’s by Joanne Koenig Coste
Being My Mom’s Mom by Loretta Anne Woodward Veney
GRAPHIC NOVEL: Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me by Sarah Leavitt
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir by Roz Chast
