Lifestyle Changes Could Delay Or Prevent 40% of Dementia Cases, Study Says (theguardian.com) 48
Excessive drinking, exposure to air pollution and head injuries all increase dementia risk, experts say in a report revealing that up to 40% of dementia cases worldwide could be delayed or prevented by addressing 12 such lifestyle factors. The Guardian reports: The report from the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care builds on previous work revealing that about a third of dementia cases could be prevented by addressing nine lifestyle factors, including midlife hearing loss, depression, less childhood education and smoking. The research weighs up the latest evidence, largely from high-income countries, supporting the addition of a further three risk factors to the list. It suggests that 1% of dementia cases worldwide are attributable to excessive mid-life alcohol intake, 3% to mid-life head injuries and 2% a result of exposure to air pollution in older age -- although they caution that the latter could be an underestimate.
While some actions can be taken on a personal level to tackle such issues, many require government-led change. The report includes a list of nine recommendations, including improving air quality, and urges policymakers to "be ambitious about prevention." Research has suggested that the incidence of dementia in Europe and North America has fallen by around 15% per decade for the past 30 years -- likely because of lifestyle changes such as a reduction in smoking -- even though the numbers of people with dementia are rising as people live longer. The impact of lifestyle interventions, the team add, is likely to be greatest among the most deprived individuals and in low- and middle-income countries. The impact of lifestyle interventions, the team add, is likely to be greatest among the most deprived individuals and in low- and middle-income countries.
While some actions can be taken on a personal level to tackle such issues, many require government-led change. The report includes a list of nine recommendations, including improving air quality, and urges policymakers to "be ambitious about prevention." Research has suggested that the incidence of dementia in Europe and North America has fallen by around 15% per decade for the past 30 years -- likely because of lifestyle changes such as a reduction in smoking -- even though the numbers of people with dementia are rising as people live longer. The impact of lifestyle interventions, the team add, is likely to be greatest among the most deprived individuals and in low- and middle-income countries. The impact of lifestyle interventions, the team add, is likely to be greatest among the most deprived individuals and in low- and middle-income countries.
Re:As I recall (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, when you're tossing out that bathwater... make sure the baby goes too!
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Their credibility was gone the moment they gave Henry Kissinger the Peace Prize.
Re:As I recall (Score:4, Insightful)
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It's my God given right (Score:5, Funny)
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to whack myself upside the head with a frying pan while taking a drag off my asbestos cigars with a 1/5 of Johnny Rebel and I'll fight to the death to protect it. Now if you'll excuse me it's Friday night and I've got some mask debating [twitter.com] to do.
Well you could at least not use aluminum pans....
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Come on that's a useful bit of information avoid head injuries to avoid dementia. As for me I tend to try to avoid head injuries and not because of fear of dementia, just fear of debilitating head injuries which lead to strokes, lethal ones or even immediate death. I mean to say, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] and that research has been around for over a century, known as dementia pugilistica or "punch drunk syndrome", by any chance were any of researchers boxers.
Still not as funny as the less childhood
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My dad worked on legislation against youth boxing for this exact reason. Obviously it failed and cost him some popularity, but it looks like time is proving him right.
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+1 informative for that twitlink. And it's right...I can't.
sr
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Well, unlike with the mask thing, I absolutely support your right to bash your head in. At least it's YOUR OWN head you're bashing in, and as far as I am concerned, as long as it's your life, you can endanger it as much and as long as you please.
It's my life that I won't let you endanger needlessly.
The 12 lifestyle changes (Score:5, Informative)
For those who tried in vain to find what those 12 lifestyle changes are in the summary:
Minimise diabetes
Treat hypertension
Prevent head injury
Stop smoking
Reduce air pollution
Reduce midlife obesity
Maintain frequent exercise
Reduce occurrence of depression
Avoid excessive alcohol
Treat hearing impairment
Maintain frequent social contact
Attain high level of education
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That's a pretty small value for "everything."
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It is almost like the brain is an extremely vulnerable organ.
Re:The 12 lifestyle changes (Score:4, Funny)
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These days you can just get the relevant solvents directly from ebay and enjoy the harmless spoon without eating yourself some bicycle chain feelings.
Re:The 12 lifestyle changes (Score:5, Interesting)
I have had only one significant head-injury (concussion after falling off a motorbike) and I'm not subject to any of the other risk factors but I have been diagnosed with Parkinson's which boosts the risk of getting dementia hugely.
After my diagnosis I decided to do whatever I could to slow the progression of the disease. This included weight loss, lots more exercise (I put on a lot of muscle) and a deliberate focus on avoiding negativity in my life.
The worrying thing is that I'm aware that some days (the frequency of which is increasing) I have a mental-fog which really does cause confusion. Last week I couldn't remember the name of the street I live in.
It is incredibly scary to realise that I'm probably going down that path and there's nothing I can do about it.
My only response is: carpe diem and fingers crossed :-(
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Gut Bacteria (Score:2)
I somewhat remember talk of external, electrical vagus nerve stimulators being worked on, too. Such a device might be a useful tool to personally experiment with without requi
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In other words, it's true: Everything that's even remotely fun is illegal, immoral or fattening.
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Or you're too fixated on your physical brain...
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If you think you have another one, you might have a problem with the "illegal" part of my sentence above...
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You should probably call the police, and try to report the details of the metaphysical infraction.
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Dude, less of the stuff you get from the guy on the corner, more of the stuff you got from your doctor.
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That kind of projection does nothing.
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A lot of these things are treated by fasting long term.
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Reduce occurrence of depression
Sure, I'll uh get right on that
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Attain high level of education
AKA: be more intelligent. The average person can’t finish a terminal degree in anything. And I’m fairly sure that those smart people aren’t more protected from dementia; they can just afford to lose a lot more of their brain before it becomes obvious that rhey can’t run their own life.
Unexpected (Score:2)
I didn't realize hitting yourself in the head was a lifestyle for some people.
Re:Unexpected (Score:5, Informative)
I didn't realize hitting yourself in the head was a lifestyle for some people.
I guess you're unaware of the U.S. National Football League, where hitting yourself in the head is a career choice.
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I didn't realize hitting yourself in the head was a lifestyle for some people.
I guess you're unaware of the U.S. National Football League, where hitting yourself in the head is a career choice.
Boxers, OTOH, get someone else to do it for them.
I've seen and agree with some items on the list (Score:4, Interesting)
I watched my grandmother deteriorate with dementia. It was nowhere near the descriptions of the worst cases that I've heard of, but it was still quite evident. I can't establish a causal relationship, but I can say that her early decline coincided with her spending a lot more time alone in her home. She had less social contact, she left off projects around the house, and overall just stopped doing stuff. It turned out that she had experienced undiagnosed hearing and vision deterioration -- she didn't really notice because it happened gradually. I have often wondered whether we could have prevented or at least forestalled her decline if we had been more attentive and insistent that she get proper care for her sensory deficits and encouraged her to participate in social programs for seniors that would have kept her more busy and engaged.
I and the rest of my family certainly spent time with her as much as we could, but we didn't know what we were looking for as far as warning signs. I was relatively young at the time, so there are things that today I would interpret as warnings that I didn't back then. We had to move her into an old folks' home, which actually helped her -- the place had a variety of activities, and they took their meals together in the dining room, so she got a lot more socialization and challenge there than she'd had living by herself. She got quite a bit better living in that environment for almost ten years before she really succumbed to her age and died. It was particularly sad because she'd been living on her own for decades before that, and was quite self-reliant for a woman of her generation.
So, this is anecdotal, and obviously I've left out a lot of details, but I've always suspected that what really accelerated her decline was her gradually advancing inability to meaningfully interact with the world around her. When we addressed her sensory and social issues, she made a significant recovery.
Dunno (Score:2)
"2% a result of exposure to air pollution in older age -- although they caution that the latter could be an underestimate. "
So there the lifestyle change would be 'moving to Canada'?
sleep (Score:1)
Liberal bias (Score:2)
Inequality !!! So if there are 99 average people and 1 person relatively well off, the richer person will be healthier if enough of his wealth is destroyed to make him like the others. Nonsense. Nor will the 99 people be helped if the rich guy is taken down.
Poverty and its causes are a problem. If you think inequality is a problem, you may already be suffering from mental degradation.