When women think about their health, the usual checklist includes mammograms, pap smears, and menopause management. But Maria Shriver wants women to pay much more attention to what’s inside their skulls. She’s been pushing that message for two decades, starting after her father, Sargent Shriver — the former ambassador and architect of the Peace Corps — was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2003.
“This was the most intelligent human being I had ever met,” Shriver told an audience at the Women’s Health Lab on Monday. “The idea that this brain had come up with all of these things and now couldn’t decide what a fork was, or who I was, was extraordinary to me.”
Why Shriver started asking hard questions about Alzheimer’s
After her father’s diagnosis, she approached the disease like a journalist. Shriver asked doctors about causes — they said aging, plaques, amyloid buildup. When she asked how it affected women differently than men, they said it did not. They also told her nothing could be done to prevent it. Those answers “felt out of date — they felt like they need to be rewritten,” she said.
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As California’s first lady, Shriver ran a large women’s conference and added brain health programming. Women across the state told her how dementia and Alzheimer’s were destroying their families — especially the women in them. She suspected the disease hit women harder, so she partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association. Eventually, research confirmed that two-thirds of those who get Alzheimer’s are women. Studies simply had not been done on women before.
Shriver was angry. “Righteous anger is a very powerful emotion, and everybody who has changed the world has had it,” she said. She founded the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement at the Cleveland Clinic to fund research specifically on women’s brains.
What women can do now for brain health
Shriver, who is a paid partner with Eli Lilly and Company, offered practical advice. “Anybody with a brain” should be on top of it, she said. Exercise, eat well, prioritize sleep, avoid sitting all day, and limit alcohol. Also, “don’t just stop learning,” and invest in friendships. “Friendships really are good for your brain.”
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She also suggested talking to your brain positively. “The brain cannot distinguish between what is real and what is a lie,” Shriver said. If you tell yourself all day that you did not perform, that you suck, you may start to believe it. Nourish your brain with kinder thoughts. “I know that maybe sounds a little bit funky, but if you do not, no one else is going to,” she added.
For those who want to go further, she pointed to clinical trials. “There are a lot of really cool trials going on now for people who have no signs of Alzheimer’s or cognitive impairment that you can participate in,” Shriver noted.
Rewriting the story of women’s health
Shriver wants women to be their own advocates. If a doctor tells you something that does not sit right, challenge it. “You will be told stories that need to be rewritten in every area of your life,” she said. Keep having conversations with doctors, friends, and family about brain health.
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“Knowledge is powerful,” she said. “We’re on the brink of possibility and I’m really excited about that. Make sure every conversation in your place of business that’s about women’s health includes the brain.”
The Women’s Health Lab event was hosted by Hearst Magazines with Northwell’s Katz Institute for Women’s Health. Eli Lilly was the title sponsor, joined by Bayer, L’Oreal Paris, and others.
