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Fight Dementia: Simple Steps to a Healthier Brain
31 Jan
Summary
- Lifestyle changes can prevent millions of dementia cases.
- Heart health, sleep, and gum care impact dementia risk.
- Addressing vision loss can decrease dementia risk by 50%.
Preventing dementia is possible through lifestyle modifications, as millions of cases could be avoided. Experts highlight that whole-body health is intricately linked to brain well-being, with factors such as heart condition, sleep quality, and gum health directly influencing dementia risk. Addressing common health issues like uncorrected vision problems can reduce dementia risk by 50%.
Poor sleep in middle age elevates dementia risk by 30%, while high blood pressure is identified as the largest modifiable factor for memory loss in Britain. Hearing loss also increases dementia risk by 40%. Fortunately, it is never too late to implement changes, and simple interventions like wearing hearing aids can reduce risk by 17%.
Research from 2024 indicates that nearly half of all dementia cases could be averted with healthier living and management of conditions like high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, obesity, gum disease, and depression. Treatment for depression, for example, has shown to reduce dementia risk by one-third over a decade.
