Board Member Dances for The Longest Day

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Nancy Westcott getting ready to perform in the “Heros + Villains” Extravaganza, part of their Longest Day activities. Nancy is pictured with Chris and Daisey Lynam.

It turns out the best activity to lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease is dance. When she heard this, Nancy Westcott got an idea.

Nancy is a board member for the Northern California and Northern Nevada chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She is also a dance student. Her instructors are Chris and Daisey Lynam, who own 8 Arthur Murray studios throughout the Bay Area.

In a serendipitous conversation, Nancy got talking with Chris, whose Aunt had just passed away with Alzheimer’s. Nancy mentioned the scientific research that says ballroom dancing is the best activity to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Summary of research from Stanford University’s Dance Division:
https://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm

Link to the original research paper in the New England Journal of Medicine:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022252

Chris embraced the connection between dance and Alzheimer’s, and within a few short weeks Chris, Daisy, Nancy and other students had raised tens of thousands of dollars to advance the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Soon, other Northern California studios joined the fun, and now there are 11 teams participating in The Longest Day! Together they have raised more than $38,000 for the cause, all while lowering their own risk of Alzheimer’s.

If you are interested in joining in or making a donation, find the team nearest you:

• Redwood City (Nancy’s team)
• Fremont
• Hayward
• Livermore
• Los Gatos
• Millbrae
• San Francisco
• San Jose
• Santa Rosa
• Stockton
• Walnut Creek

To learn more about lowering your risk of Alzheimer’s disease, go to http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_causes_risk_factors.asp

To learn more about The Longest Day, go to alz.org/tld.