There’s few guarantees in life. To name a couple: death and taxes.
But, on the remote Greek island of Ikaria, they seemed to have turned back time. Many people there live past 100 years old with little risk of Alzheimer's, dementia or any other diseases of old age.
Cleveland may be thousands of miles away, but step into a tiny local downtown social hall and it’s like you've landed on the exotic Greek island.
Inside, it's a celebration of families who all come from Ikaria and now call Northeast Ohio home. And as Jim Gemelas and Tina Gemelas-Fouts explain living the American dream has them giving up decades of their life.
"They came here for a better life and worked, worked, and worked,” Jim said. “We worked, worked and worked and want to go back to that life.”
Jim and Tina are first generation immigrants from Ikaria. Their parents left the island in the 60s. And now more than 50 years later, their mother became the first in his family to develop Alzheimer’s
"We really couldn’t believe it. Obviously, we saw the symptoms but we didn’t believe because no one else had ever had it.”
The diagnosis has the family worried.
For Lisa, it was a wake up call.
“Women are more likely to get Alzheimer’s than men,” she said.
But there is hope. The island's secret to holding off father time is really no secret.
Ikarians eat healthy. They put lemons on almost all of their food. They eat greens and walk at least four or five times a day. More importantly, they are social and continue to build social connections.
"It’s their social interactions. What they eat. How they live and how they associate with one another too,” Jim said.
“They don’t eat as much as meat as we do here in the states,” Tina said. “And also trying to cut my sugar…[in Ikaria] they just have a little bit. They don’t over indulge in desserts.”
Their mom recently turned 87. The Gemela's family held a party to celebrate. They now know Alzheimer’s can catch up to them at any time but they also now know they have power to stop it.
Like many Americans, the Gemelas’ didn't know Alzheimer’s was preventable.
They’ve learned it only takes a few lifestyle changes that can be the difference in getting the disease