Make Healthier Lifestyle Choices
This could be as simple as reducing alcohol intake, stopping smoking and looking at nutrition.
Sustain Your Brain
Dementia is a term that we use to refer to a gradual decline in mental function and ability to carry out everyday tasks but is it really possible to prevent?
Prevention means trying to stop something, such as a disease, happen at all. If we pay attention to those risk factors across the life course, we might reduce dementia by about a third over time. We can be healthy and optimise our ageing and brain health. Dementia is not inevitable.
So why are we so keen to help prevent Dementia?
Dementia affects millions of people worldwide and is now considered as one of the most significant health issues of the 21st century.
Current evidence suggests that one third of Alzheimer’s disease cases may be preventable, with minor changes to health and lifestyle.
Risk Factors
There are several big risk factors that have been identified from across the life course, which can be linked to risk of dementia.
These include many health related factors:
- Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholesterol
- Obesity
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Depression
- Smoking
- Excessive Alcohol Consumption
- Diet High in Saturated Fat
- Low Educational Level
- Environmental Factors
Eating foods that are high in fat, can put you more at risk of Dementia. Examples of these are; Butter, Margarine, Cheese, Fried/Fast Foods, Pastries, Cake, Sweets as well as Red Meats.
You should also aim to drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week. Drinking more than this, can put you at risk of alcohol-related brain damage.
Did You Know?
More people will develop dementia in the coming decades. This is due to the world population getting older, age is the greatest risk factor for dementia.
There are many diseases that can cause Dementia and most of these are associated with getting older. The most common one is Alzheimer’s disease.
The gradual decline caused by dementia can create noticeable changes over time to the following: Movement, Balance and Co-ordination, Memory & Decision Making, Vision and Senses, Sleep, Mood, Personality and Speech.
