The 7 simple lifestyle tweaks that can slash your risk of killer dementia
WHEN a person reaches a certain age, it’s understandable to assume health is going in one direction – and it’s not a positive one.
The route to old age appears to be paved with a plethora of health issues ranging from heart disease to cognitive decline.
But a growing body of research suggests changes we make later in life may still have a large bearing on our health.
US researchers have discovered seven healthy habits to adopt in middle age that may help cut the risk of dementia.
Study author, assistant professor Pamela Rist, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said: “Since we now know that dementia can begin in the brain decades before diagnosis, it’s important that we learn more about how your habits in middle-age can affect your risk of dementia in old age.
“The good news is that making healthy lifestyle choices in middle age may lead to a decreased risk of dementia later in life,” she added.
The study suggests the following health tweaks to ward off dementia:
1. Staying active
2. Eating a better diet
3. Maintaining a healthy weight
4. Not smoking
5. Keeping normal blood pressure
6. Controlling cholesterol
7. Keeping blood sugar low
More than 55million people live with dementia worldwide, and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
More than 900,000 people are currently living with the condition in the UK, with numbers increasing every year.
It’s the leading cause of death in Britain – but experts do not know exactly how it is caused.
Risk factors include smoking, a lack of exercise, heavy drinking, diabetes, air pollution and ageing, the NHS states.
The study involved 13,720 women who were aged 54 on average at the start of the research.
After 20 years of follow-ups, researchers looked at US health data to identify those who had been diagnosed with dementia.
Some 1,771 women, or 13 per cent of those in the study, had developed the illness.
Common early symptoms of dementia
Different types of dementia can affect people differently, and everyone will experience symptoms in their own way. However, there are some common early symptoms that may appear some time before a diagnosis of dementia. These include:
- memory loss
- difficulty concentrating
- finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks, such as getting confused over the correct change when shopping
- struggling to follow a conversation or find the right word
- being confused about time and place
- mood changes
Source: Dementia UK
For each of the seven health factors listed above, people were given a score of zero for poor or “intermediate” health, and one point for ideal health, leading to a total possible score of seven.
The average score was 4.3 at the start of the study and 4.2 a decade later.
After adjusting for factors such as age and education, researchers found that for every increase of one point in the score, a person’s risk of dementia fell by 6 per cent.
Assistant prof Pamela added: “It can be empowering for people to know that by taking steps such as exercising for half an hour a day or keeping their blood pressure under control, they can reduce their risk of dementia.”
Dementia is a group of symptoms that get worse over time and include memory loss, confusion, problems with language and needing help with daily living.
The new study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Boston.
Last week, experts from University College London (UCL) said that staying active throughout adulthood could help stave off dementia.