Dementia Prevention: 9 Behaviors Could Reduce Your Risk by 35 Percent

Dementia has long been considered an inevitable part of aging, but researchers are increasingly learning that this is not entirely true.

About a third of dementia cases could be prevented by adopting a lifestyle that better protects your brain.

Dementia is the way we describe the symptoms that affect memory and cause a decline in cognitive performance. living. There are different brain disorders that cause dementia, but Alzheimer's disease is the most common, followed by cerebrovascular disease and Lewy body disease.

Around the world, some 47 million people currently live with dementia – including more than 5 million Americans. The burden of Alzheimer's disease on families and the health system is hard to overestimate: it's the most expensive disease in America, costing up to $ 215 billion a year ( more than double the cancer or heart disease). on the patient's relatives.

The number of people with dementia is also expected to triple by 2050, depending on the age of the population.

But there is good news: you might be able to change your risk of developing dementia.

19659008] Lancet report, by 24 leading researchers on dementia from around the world, nine of the best-known lifestyle factors that contribute to the disease and account for more than one-third of case of dementia. The point to remember: Addressing these factors could reduce our risk of dementia by up to 35%.

Another good news is that the prevalence rate of dementia has decreased in some countries, including the United States. And researchers believe that this may be due in part to increased levels of education, which seems to protect people from dementia. For an illness that many of us fear, the message is full of hope: dementia is not necessarily a foregone conclusion.

9 ways to reduce your risk of dementia

Lancet

The symptoms of dementia usually appear in the elderly, but it is thought that the brain changes that cause it occur years earlier. These are things that can help avoid these changes:

1) Check your hearing and get a hearing aid if you need it

It is not yet known why, but there is a strong correlation between hearing even slight loss and increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia (and the risk of dementia increases with more severe hearing loss). Hearing can be important for dementia because of what the main author of the study, Gill Livingston, has called "using or losing it."

"We we get a lot of intellectual stimulation through hearing, "she told Vox. the study was published in 2017. So when a person can not hear as well, his brain can start to shrink. Researchers believe that hearing aids could help reduce this risk, but they need better evidence to know.

2) Continue to learn

Less education is also badociated with an increased risk of dementia because of what researchers call "cognitive reserve" or a person's resistance to cerebral palsy. "It is thought that the low level of education leads to vulnerability to cognitive decline because it causes less cognitive reserve," they wrote, "which allows people to maintain their function despite cerebral pathology."

3) Quit smoking

for the brain because it degrades cardiovascular health (and interferes with the body's ability to deliver oxygen to the brain). Tobacco also contains neurotoxins, which damage the brain.

4) Seeking treatment for depression

It is still unclear whether depression contributes to dementia or whether dementia poses an increased risk of depression. But the researchers concluded that "biologically plausible" depression increases the risk of dementia because it "affects stress hormones, neuronal growth factors, and the volume of the hippocampus." S & # 39; ensuring that people are treated for depression could reduce the risk of dementia. the researchers said that antidepressants could also help, but called for better evidence to understand the effects of drugs.

5) Exercise

Exercise is believed to protect the brain by reducing cortisol levels in the body, reducing vascular risk and increasing nerve cell growth related to memory. So, inactive people are at greater risk of dementia because they do not benefit from extra protection exercise.

6) Managing high blood pressure

Stress on the circulatory system increases the risk of neurodegeneration, which also contributes to dementia.

7) Be Social

Like depression, it is not known if social isolation is a symptom or a cause of dementia. "However, the evidence is growing that social isolation is a risk factor for dementia and it increases the risk of hypertension, coronary heart disease and depression," the researchers wrote.

The theory is that social isolation is similar to not being able to hear, explained Livingston. "You need a cognitively enriched environment to keep the brain healthy, and if you do not see people or hear them, you get less of that stimulation."

8) Maintaining a Healthy Weight

Researchers believe that obesity causes brain damage because it is linked to a decrease in blood flow to the brain and that it increases the oxidative stress, which is also bad for the brain.

9) Keep your blood sugar under control

have dementia. One of the reasons why: Having diabetes means you can not control your blood sugar. And having more sugar in your blood means more sugar in your organs, including the brain. Just as diabetes can damage other organs of the body, it also damages the brain.

By 2050, an estimated 140 million people will live with dementia

Scientific Photo Gallery – ZEPHYR / Getty

This list of nine contributors is just the beginning. The scientific community is already informing about other potential factors for dementia, such as exposure to pollution and lack of sleep.

"So, we do not think [list of nine things] is everything, but that's what we have now," said Livingston in 2017.

There are other reservations to note about this research. Some of the factors – such as hearing loss, or social isolation – are still badociated with dementia, but they cause dementia is not yet clear, and researchers are working to better understand the causes of dementia.

Moreover, not all cases of dementia are preventable; about 7 percent are related to genetics and can not be modified with lifestyle changes. And the researchers wrote that "age, the biggest risk factor for dementia overall, is not editable."

Nevertheless, Livingston added that people should think of ways to reduce their risk of dementia. promote health. For example, some communities can not walk or lack strong tobacco control policies. Making exercise more accessible and helping people quit their habit of smoking could reduce the burden of dementia. Considering what is a costly and devastating problem of dementia, we can not wait for better evidence. And, it seems, even small steps to a healthier and more active lifestyle will not only boost your overall health, but also the health of your brain.