By Nicholas Chan | August 6th, 2020

12 Things You Can Do To Help Prevent or Delay Dementia

While dementia is not necessarily preventable, scientists now understand even more clearly the extent to which some lifestyle changes can significantly lower one’s odds of developing dementia. Here are 12 risk factors that could potentially delay or prevent 40 percent of dementia cases worldwide.

Researchers project the number of people living with dementia, a neurodegenerative syndrome which currently afflicts 50 million people worldwide, will more than triple by 2050, soaring to 152 million cases globally. But experts in a recent report say two in five dementia cases could potentially be delayed or prevented by certain lifestyle choices and government policies.

The report builds on the previous nine risk factors identified by the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care, and adds three additional risk factors — air pollution, traumatic brain injury and excessive consumption of alcohol.

Eric Larson, an author of the study and senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, said just as people can’t control their genetics, people in their 40s can’t retroactively change their socioeconomic circumstances in early life — but people of all ages can, to varying extents, make lifestyle choices like habitual exercising to improve their health.

“In my own [clinical] practice, I’ve been telling patients it would be a good idea to exercise regularly,” Larson said. “When they found out that you could preserve your brain and reduce your risk of dementia, it was actually a powerful motivator for many people to become a regular exerciser.”

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Article published by Being Patient and submitted by Pat France, MSRN Member