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Abstract

. Read, play games, learn languages…</p><h2 id="2a6a">Hypertension</h2><p id="7750">High blood pressure is another risk factor. Try to keep your systolic blood pressure below 130mm Hg.</p><h2 id="ca3a">Hearing loss</h2><p id="0be6">Hearing loss increases your risk as well. People in midlife who lose their hearing (in contrast to people who are born deaf or lose their hearing when young) show a greater cognitive decline than expected. This could be because of less direct stimulation, but also due to social withdrawal. Take care of your ears.</p><h2 id="4ca5">Smoking</h2><p id="d06f">Just don’t.</p><h2 id="03d9">Obesity</h2><p id="9fd6">Try to maintain a healthy weight. Obesity and diabetes (often linked) increase your risk for developing any of the dementia types. The gut and the brain are more extensively linked than we thought.</p><h2 id="0911">Depression</h2><p id="afbc">Depression is tricky. It can be a risk factor for dementia, but, vice versa, suffering from early-stage dementia can cause depressive symptoms as well, potentially pushing someone deeper into dementia. Be kind to yourself, as hard as that may be sometimes.</p><h2 id="5a1f">Physical inactivity</h2><p id="841e">Our sedentary lifestyles are not doing us any favors. Ass-sitting all day is known to increase our risk for a lot of conditions, including dementia. This doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself in the gym. Just move. Gently, throughout the day.</p><h2 id="1198">Diabetes</h2><p id="e073">Already mentioned earlier, untreated diabetes — specifically the lifestyle-induced type II — increased the odds for developing dementia. Prevent and/or treat it as well as you can (for example, people <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6345339/">taking metformin against diabetes fare a lot better then their untreated counterparts</a>).</p><h2 id="8b87">Little social contact</h2><p id="d587">Loneliness kills. It also ups your risk of developing dementia. Now, of course this doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to dwell in large loud groups all the time. (If this freaks you out — I can relate as a fellow introvert). But try to find some people you can talk to and share experiences with.</p><p id="7b20">These are the nine ‘old’ risk factors. This review identified three more:</p><h2 id="69cc">Alcohol</h2><p id="171f">Drinking more than 21 units of alcohol per week is a risk factor for dementia. But isn’t red wine good for the brain? Maybe. But a bottle a day is not going to keep the

Options

doctor away. Enjoy in moderation.</p><h2 id="f0a5">Brain trauma</h2><p id="f25c">Banging your brain against the inside of your skill is probably not the best idea when you’re trying to avoid a condition that affects brain structure and functioning. Try not to get knocked out too often.</p><h2 id="cd4a">Air pollution</h2><p id="d17f">Another one of the ‘pleasures’ of our current lifestyle: air pollution. Exposure to airborne pollution (including second-hand smoke) increases your risk for dementia. Especially the smaller, pernicious particles can find their way into various tissues of your body and do damage.</p><h1 id="828f">Prevention, inequality, and care</h1><p id="e27f">Taken together, addressing these twelve factors could — according to the authors — prevent or delay up to 40% of dementia cases. With potential cases numbering in the tens to hundreds of millions, that’s a lot of people.</p><p id="b9b5">Importantly, the authors mention that to achieve this reduction, we have to be ambitious, and:</p><blockquote id="70d7"><p>Prevention is about policy and individuals.</p></blockquote><p id="1e0e">That policy should be both comprehensive and inclusive. Right now, many of the risk factors are more prevalent in minority groups and vulnerable populations. That is an embarrassment for any society that claims to care about its members.</p><p id="6763">Finally, the authors offer some suggestions for post-diagnostic care:</p><h2 id="4482">Holistic healthcare</h2><p id="2857">Drugs and hospitalization are not enough. To maintain quality of life for patients with dementia, physical health, social care, and support in various aspects of their daily lives are imperative.</p><h2 id="b6c7">Symptom management</h2><p id="03ff">The severity and type of behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms will differ on a case-by-case basis. Hence, mitigation of those symptoms should also benefit from a personalized approach.</p><h2 id="5d5a">Care for carers</h2><p id="66a7">Dementia does not only strike patients, but their families as well. Many people with a dementia-inflicted family member take on a duty of care. These people — as well as the personnel in nursery homes — should be supported as much as possible.</p><p id="d631">The last words are for the authors:</p><blockquote id="d807"><p>Acting now on dementia prevention, intervention, and care will vastly improve living and dying for individuals with dementia and their families, and thus society.</p></blockquote></article></body>

Twelve Ways to Reduce Your Dementia Risk

A new review, which includes data from low- and middle-income countries, lists twelve modifiable factors that can reduce dementia risk

The umbrella of dementia

Dementia is an umbrella term that encompasses several conditions characterized by a progressive deterioration of cognitive capacities, such as memory and speech. These conditions also share the occurrence of behavioral changes. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for over half of all cases.

There is no cure. Around fifty million people are affected across the globe, a number that is projected to triple over the coming decades as the demographic group of the elderly is growing quickly.

Those gloomy numbers also imply a massive healthcare cost, not to mention the personal cost for the families of those affected.

Despite the lack of a cure, we are not helpless. We know there are genetic risk factors, but we also know that there are lifestyle factors that play a role.

A new extensive review by the Lancet Commission combed through the latest studies and evidence, including data from low- and middle-income countries, and identified twelve risk factors that each of us can personally work on to reduce the risk of developing dementia. But, importantly, these factors should also be taken into account by policy makers to reshape our society into a more health-friendly environment!

The twelve

Without further ado, here are the twelve risk factors the group of researchers identified, consisting out of the following nine that they had previously recognized (of course, these factors often influence each other):

Education

Less education correlates with a higher risk for dementia. This doesn’t mean that you have to force yourself into schooling if you don’t want to, but that you should keep your mind busy and engaged. Read, play games, learn languages…

Hypertension

High blood pressure is another risk factor. Try to keep your systolic blood pressure below 130mm Hg.

Hearing loss

Hearing loss increases your risk as well. People in midlife who lose their hearing (in contrast to people who are born deaf or lose their hearing when young) show a greater cognitive decline than expected. This could be because of less direct stimulation, but also due to social withdrawal. Take care of your ears.

Smoking

Just don’t.

Obesity

Try to maintain a healthy weight. Obesity and diabetes (often linked) increase your risk for developing any of the dementia types. The gut and the brain are more extensively linked than we thought.

Depression

Depression is tricky. It can be a risk factor for dementia, but, vice versa, suffering from early-stage dementia can cause depressive symptoms as well, potentially pushing someone deeper into dementia. Be kind to yourself, as hard as that may be sometimes.

Physical inactivity

Our sedentary lifestyles are not doing us any favors. Ass-sitting all day is known to increase our risk for a lot of conditions, including dementia. This doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself in the gym. Just move. Gently, throughout the day.

Diabetes

Already mentioned earlier, untreated diabetes — specifically the lifestyle-induced type II — increased the odds for developing dementia. Prevent and/or treat it as well as you can (for example, people taking metformin against diabetes fare a lot better then their untreated counterparts).

Little social contact

Loneliness kills. It also ups your risk of developing dementia. Now, of course this doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to dwell in large loud groups all the time. (If this freaks you out — I can relate as a fellow introvert). But try to find some people you can talk to and share experiences with.

These are the nine ‘old’ risk factors. This review identified three more:

Alcohol

Drinking more than 21 units of alcohol per week is a risk factor for dementia. But isn’t red wine good for the brain? Maybe. But a bottle a day is not going to keep the doctor away. Enjoy in moderation.

Brain trauma

Banging your brain against the inside of your skill is probably not the best idea when you’re trying to avoid a condition that affects brain structure and functioning. Try not to get knocked out too often.

Air pollution

Another one of the ‘pleasures’ of our current lifestyle: air pollution. Exposure to airborne pollution (including second-hand smoke) increases your risk for dementia. Especially the smaller, pernicious particles can find their way into various tissues of your body and do damage.

Prevention, inequality, and care

Taken together, addressing these twelve factors could — according to the authors — prevent or delay up to 40% of dementia cases. With potential cases numbering in the tens to hundreds of millions, that’s a lot of people.

Importantly, the authors mention that to achieve this reduction, we have to be ambitious, and:

Prevention is about policy and individuals.

That policy should be both comprehensive and inclusive. Right now, many of the risk factors are more prevalent in minority groups and vulnerable populations. That is an embarrassment for any society that claims to care about its members.

Finally, the authors offer some suggestions for post-diagnostic care:

Holistic healthcare

Drugs and hospitalization are not enough. To maintain quality of life for patients with dementia, physical health, social care, and support in various aspects of their daily lives are imperative.

Symptom management

The severity and type of behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms will differ on a case-by-case basis. Hence, mitigation of those symptoms should also benefit from a personalized approach.

Care for carers

Dementia does not only strike patients, but their families as well. Many people with a dementia-inflicted family member take on a duty of care. These people — as well as the personnel in nursery homes — should be supported as much as possible.

The last words are for the authors:

Acting now on dementia prevention, intervention, and care will vastly improve living and dying for individuals with dementia and their families, and thus society.