After more than 20 years at the forefront of the fight against Alzheimer’s, it’s hard to think of anything Maria Shriver hasn’t done to shift the narrative around the disease. Since her father’s devastating 2003 Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Shriver has written multiple books on the subject; produced an Emmy Award-winning documentary spotlighting stories of patients and researchers; and founded the advocacy organization Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement.
But earlier this week, Maria took on a unique new role that she believes will be part of a slew of “game changing” efforts to prioritize women’s brain health as we age: She is now Chief Visionary and Strategic Advisor for the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention and Research Center at the Cleveland Clinic, which is being billed as the world’s first Alzheimer’s disease prevention center exclusively focused on women.
Earlier this week, Shriver announced the 2024 winners of the center’s research grants, which will fund the kind of projects she told Flow Space Editor in Chief, Galina Espinoza, have her in a “hopeful space” when it comes to women’s health. (Their conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Flow Space: It’s been 20 years since you started your work fighting Alzheimer’s. How has your perspective changed?
Shriver: I think Alzheimer’s is in a very different place than when my dad was diagnosed. I think the space is in a different place. There’s a lot more going on there. There was no media about Alzheimer’s. It was a very hush hush topic. There was no mention of women. Everything was about plaques and tangles and it was dark and dreary and now there’s talk of prevention. We can look at the brain in a different way. Now we’re in a new era of women’s health, and women, you know, are front and center not just in Alzheimer’s, but in many other diseases and what does that mean and how do we rectify that and how do we level the playing field. So I’m excited. It’s a hopeful space.
Flow Space: Let’s talk about this idea of health equity. We know that women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at a rate far higher than men. What’s it going to take for attention to be paid to women at the level that is actually warranted?
Shriver: It’s happening. The Women’s Health Initiative already has been a game changer. You’ve never had a presidential executive order on women’s health. And you’ve never had a president say, it’ll take $12 billion to bring this up to speed, in the State of the Union. None of those things have ever happened in the United States of America. We just opened the big women’s Comprehensive Health Center at the Cleveland Clinic. There isn’t one like that. It’s a model that can be replicated through other universities through other medical centers to look at women holistically, comprehensively, and particularly women at midlife. So there are game-changing things happening every single day now.
And I think women themselves are watching this and saying, Wait a minute, I always felt my pain was different. I realized I was taking a drug and I had an adverse reaction. Now I know that there’s a reason for all that so I can use my voice. And doctors are going, Wait a minute — now there’s money in this space to fund the research that wasn’t there before. So we are in a defining moment, a new era moment for scientists or researchers or doctors for political figures, or social action activists or women themselves.
Flow Space: I recently had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Lisa Mosconi, whose new book The Menopause Brain, was eye-opening for a lot of people. [Ed note: Shriver wrote the foreword to the book.] For example, she talks about how Alzheimer’s is not an “old person’s disease” — that changes in the brain start appearing in midlife. What does that mean for women?
Maria Shriver: I think that women have to be proactive in every decade of their life. They have to be proactive when they’re thinking about birth control, when they’re thinking about, Do I want to have a kid or not have one, and they have to be, you know, proactive on behalf of their children. They have to be proactive on behalf of themselves. They have to know what perimenopause is. They have to know what menopause is. They have to know what solutions are out there. They have to know that it starts primarily in your brain before in your body, they have to realize that your brain and your body are connected. They have to do their homework about hormones, about their own personal health, about what options are good for them. And they have to learn how to drop other people’s judgments! I think they’re realizing, I have to get in the driver’s seat.
Flow Space: What are two or three things you’re doing right now specifically for your brain health. For example, have you gotten a brain scan?
Shriver: Yeah, I’ve done a brain scan. I kind of prioritize my sleep. I prioritize exercise. I try to do the best I can when it comes to stress, you know, maintaining the structured lifestyle the best I can. I pay attention to sugar, I pay attention to my cholesterol numbers. I pay attention in a way that perhaps I didn’t before.
Flow Space: If someone comes to you and shares that a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, what is the advice that you give?
Shriver: Well, I would tell them to get a good neurologist to get a second opinion. I would tell them to see if they can get them into a trial. I would tell them to take care of themselves, to prioritize their own health, to find caregiver support, reach out to other people. And buckle up!
Flow Space: After more than 20 years in this space, what keeps you fighting?
Shriver: It’s the work that I do out in the field when I meet people who have Alzheimer’s or when I meet family members and remember myself in that same place. You know, other people don’t have the resources I have, and [living with this disease] is really hard. But I can do something about this to make it better for other people. And so I go on.