Allergy medications are sometimes recommended during pregnancy. However, before you take an allergy medication, consider ways to reduce your symptoms, including:

• Avoiding triggers. Limit your exposure to anything that triggers your allergy symptoms.
• Saline nasal spray. Over-the-counter saline nasal spray can help ease symptoms. Use the spray as needed.
• Nasal irrigation. Once a day or as needed, fill a neti pot with an over-the-counter saline nasal solution or specially prepared water. Then tilt your head sideways over the sink and place the spout of the neti pot in your upper nostril. Breathing through your open mouth, pour in the liquid so it drains through your lower nostril. Repeat on the other side. Water should be distilled or sterile, previously boiled and cooled, or passed through a filter designed to trap potentially infectious organisms.
• Physical activity. Exercise helps reduce nasal inflammation.
• Nasal strips. Over-the-counter adhesive nasal strips can help keep your nasal passages open.
• Elevating the head of the bed. Raising the head of the bed by 30 to 45 degrees might help ease symptoms.

If you're considering taking an allergy medication, talk to your health care provider about the risks and benefits. To manage mild allergy symptoms, he or she might recommend an oral antihistamine such as loratadine (Claritin, Alavert) or cetirizine (Zyrtec).

For moderate to severe symptoms, your health care provider might recommend a nonprescription corticosteroid spray at the lowest effective dose, in addition to an oral antihistamine. Options include budesonide nasal spray (Rhinocort Allergy), fluticasone nasal spray (Flonase) or mometasone nasal spray (Nasonex).

These terms are often used interchangeably, but they actually have very different meanings. Dementia is not a specific disease. It's an overall term, sometimes referred to as an umbrella term, which describes a wide range of symptoms. These symptoms impact a person's ability to perform everyday activities independently. Common symptoms include:

• A decline in memory
• Changes in thinking skills
• Poor judgment and reasoning skills
• Decreased focus and attention
• Changes in language and communication skills

Alzheimer's disease is one type of dementia, but it's not the only one. There are many different types and causes of dementia, including:

• Lewy body dementia
• Frontotemporal dementia
• Vascular dementia
• Parkinson's disease dementia
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Huntington's disease
• Mixed dementia

Alzheimer's disease, however, is the most well-known and common form of dementia but not everyone with dementia has Alzheimer's disease.

Possibly. Exercise has many known benefits, including reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, strengthening the bones and muscles, and reducing stress.

It also appears that regular physical activity benefits the brain. Studies show that people who are physically active are less likely to experience a decline in their mental function, have a lowered risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and possibly have improved thinking among people with vascular cognitive impairment.

Exercising several times a week for 30 to 60 minutes may:

• Keep thinking, reasoning and learning skills sharp for healthy individuals
• Improve memory, reasoning, judgment and thinking skills (cognitive function) for people with mild Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment
• Delay the start of Alzheimer's for people at risk of developing the disease or slow the progress of the disease

Physical activity seems to help your brain not only by keeping the blood flowing but also by increasing chemicals that protect the brain. Physical activity also tends to counter some of the natural reduction in brain connections that occurs with aging.

More research is needed to know to what degree adding physical activity improves memory or slows the progression of cognitive decline. Nonetheless, regular exercise is important to stay physically and mentally fit.

Insulin — a hormone that helps regulate your blood sugar — appears to play a role in normal memory processes. Insulin irregularities may contribute to cognitive and brain changes associated with Alzheimer's disease.

In the past several years, researchers have been investigating the use of insulin to treat Alzheimer's disease. One of the challenges is how to provide insulin in such a way that it improves brain function without significantly disrupting your blood sugar levels. If your blood sugar drops too low, for example, it can create complications, such as confusion, heart palpitations, anxiety and visual disturbances.

Early research suggested that when taken as a nose spray, insulin could possibly improve memory and help preserve cognitive function in people with early Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment.

However, recent trials showed negative results. A study investigating the impact of nasal insulin on people with mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer's disease found no benefits from the drug.

While optimism for insulin has been dampened, researchers are still trying to understand if and how insulin might be used to manage Alzheimer's disease.

Not yet. But there's strong evidence that several factors associated with leading a healthy lifestyle may play a role in reducing your risk of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. However, more research is needed before any of these factors can be considered a proven strategy to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Population-based studies suggest that factors associated with overall good health may also reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline. These factors include regular physical activity, eating a healthy diet and keeping your brain active through lifelong learning.

In addition, the Mediterranean diet has been associated with a reduced risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Among those at risk of heart and other vascular diseases, the Mediterranean diet is also linked to improved cognition.

The Mediterranean diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fish and uses olive oil as the primary cooking fat.

More research is needed to confirm specific Alzheimer's prevention strategies. But, here are some steps that promote good overall health:

• Avoid smoking.
• Control vascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
• Eat a balanced diet — such as the Mediterranean diet — that's rich in vegetables, fruits and lean protein, particularly protein sources containing omega-3 fatty acids.
• Be physically and socially active, including engaging in aerobic exercise.
• Take care of your mental health.
• Use thinking (cognitive) skills, such as memory skills.

Developing a treatment plan for any disease requires a clear diagnosis. New Alzheimer's tests might help with early detection of some aspects of the disease.

Research is ongoing to develop new tests and determine who might benefit from them. More testing is needed before they can become widely available.

• Biomarker test. A biomarker is something that can be measured to indicate the presence of a disease. Two proteins, beta-amyloid and tau, which are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's can be measured in the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord (cerebrospinal fluid).

  The fluid is examined for evidence of abnormal development of beta-amyloid proteins, which form plaques, and tau proteins, which form tangles. Both plaques and tangles are thought to contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

  These proteins can distinguish Alzheimer's disease from other causes of dementia and may help identify people with the disease process before they have significant mental decline. They can support a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, but are not yet used routinely for diagnosis.

• Brain imaging (neuroimaging). Researchers are studying imaging techniques, such as MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) scans, used with radiotracers.

  Radiotracers are charged particles that "light up" Alzheimer's-affected areas in images of the brain — for example, by attaching to proteins, amyloid and tau, associated with Alzheimer's disease. However, having amyloid plaques in the brain doesn't mean you have dementia. More study is needed.

• Cognitive assessment. Technology is also being used to develop software for computer-based assessments that detect cognitive changes and may be useful in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
• Loss of odor identification tests. Some studies indicate that the ability to identify odors (olfactory impairment) declines with mild cognitive impairment and with progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease. Olfactory impairment has been associated with other diseases such as Parkinson's disease, as well.

Early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is an important goal. Early intervention with medications might slow disease progression and provide an opportunity to plan for the future.

The immediate effects of a head injury can include symptoms that are also seen in dementia, such as confusion and memory loss, as well as changes in speech, vision and personality. Depending on the severity of your injury, these symptoms may clear up quickly, last a long time or never go away completely.

However, such symptoms that begin soon after your injury generally don't get worse over time as happens with Alzheimer's disease.

Certain types of head injuries, however, may increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementias later in life. The factors that seem to affect your risk include your age at the time of the injury and the severity of the injury.

More-severe head injuries may increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. And sustaining a head injury when you're older, around age 55, may also increase your risk. Repeated mild injuries also may increase your risk of future problems with thinking and reasoning.

You're likely at greatest risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer's later in life, post-head injury, if you also have other risk factors. For example, carrying one form of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene increases the risk of Alzheimer's in any individual.

It's important to note that many people who sustain a severe head injury never develop Alzheimer's disease or later dementia. More research is needed to understand the link.

You may know that a Mediterranean diet — rich in fruits, vegetables, olive oil, legumes, whole grains and fish — offers many heart-healthy benefits. But a Mediterranean diet may also benefit your brain.

Studies show people who closely follow a Mediterranean diet are less likely to have Alzheimer's disease than people who don't follow the diet.

Research suggests a Mediterranean diet may:

• Slow cognitive decline in older adults
• Reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) — a transitional stage between the cognitive decline of normal aging and the more-serious memory problems caused by dementia or Alzheimer's disease
• Reduce the risk of MCI progressing into Alzheimer's disease

It's unclear which parts of the Mediterranean diet might protect brain function.

Researchers speculate that making healthy food choices may improve cholesterol and blood sugar levels and overall blood vessel health, which may in turn reduce the risk of MCI or Alzheimer's disease.

Another theory suggests that following a Mediterranean diet may help prevent brain tissue loss associated with Alzheimer's.

But for now it's difficult to say what exactly explains the relationship between following a Mediterranean diet and reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Some research shows that individuals with moderate seafood consumption had fewer Alzheimer's-related changes in their brains among people carrying the apolipoprotein E (APOE e4) gene, which is thought to increase Alzheimer's risk.

But overall, evidence isn't strong enough to show that the Mediterranean diet reduces Alzheimer's disease risk. One issue is that most studies on the effects of diet on dementia are based on dietary questionnaires completed by participants who may have trouble recalling what they ate or have memory problems.

So, one study used a modified food questionnaire developed for use in older adults to address this issue. The study looked at whether following a Mediterranean diet, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet designed to treat high blood pressure or a hybrid diet that combined aspects of both diets known as the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

The results showed that people who strictly followed any of the three diets had a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, even modest adoption of the MIND diet approach, such as eating two vegetable servings a day, two berry servings a week and one fish meal a week, appeared to lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

More research and clinical trials are needed to know to what degree a Mediterranean diet prevents Alzheimer's or slows the progression of cognitive decline. Nonetheless, eating a healthy diet is important to stay physically and mentally fit.

It's unlikely you'll become dependent on zolpidem (Ambien). Ambien and similar sleep medications can be effective, and they're much less likely to be habit-forming than some other drugs sometimes prescribed for sleep problems — for example, benzodiazepines, such as alprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan) or temazepam (Restoril).

But there can be concerning side effects. For example, some people who take zolpidem or similar medications, such as eszopiclone (Lunesta), do things while asleep that they don't remember — such as driving, or preparing and eating food. Because you're not awake, these are dangerous behaviors.

Also, the Food and Drug Administration recommends that you avoid driving or doing activities that require full mental alertness the next day, as you may still have some impairment from the sleep medication, especially if you take extended-release drugs. In rare cases, these sleep medications may trigger a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis).

Sleep medications can be useful in the short term, but relying on them usually isn't the best long-term solution for insomnia. For example, medications can mask an underlying problem that needs treatment.

The best approach is to address whatever is causing your sleep problems in the first place. Other therapies include learning new sleep habits (such as keeping your bedtime and wake time consistent from day to day), getting counseling for anxiety or other psychological concerns, and using stress-reduction techniques.

Various factors contribute to foot and ankle swelling during pregnancy. For starters, your body retains more fluid during pregnancy. Also, your growing uterus puts pressure on your veins, which impairs return of blood to your heart. Hormonal changes also play a role.

Foot and ankle swelling during pregnancy is common and usually goes away after delivery. In the meantime, it might help to:

• Stay off your feet. Avoid standing for long periods. When you can, sit with your feet up and occasionally rotate your feet at the ankles and gently flex your feet to stretch your calf muscles. Better yet, lie down with your legs elevated.
• Sleep on your left side. This takes pressure off the large vein that returns blood from the lower half of your body to your heart (inferior vena cava). It also might help if you elevate your legs slightly with pillows.
• Wear compression stockings. Your health care provider might recommend wearing supportive tights or stockings during the day.
• Be physically active every day. Take walks, ride a stationary bike or swim laps in a pool.
• Stand or walk in the pool. Although there's little research on the use of water pressure for foot and ankle swelling, standing or walking in a pool seems to help compress tissues in the legs and might provide temporary relief from swelling during pregnancy.
• Wear loose clothing. Tight clothing can restrict blood flow. Don't wear socks or stockings with tight bands on the ankles or calves.

Some research suggests that foot massage and reflexology, which involves applying pressure to certain areas of the feet, hands and ears, might help decrease foot and ankle swelling during pregnancy. Also, swelling doesn't mean cutting back on how much you drink. The Institute of Medicine recommends about 10 cups (2.4 liters) of fluids a day during pregnancy.

Although mild foot and ankle swelling during pregnancy is normal, sudden swelling that is painful — especially if it's in one leg only — could be an indication of a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis). A sudden increase in swelling also might mean that your blood pressure is higher than normal. Both conditions require prompt evaluation and treatment.