There are 12 steps you can take to reduce your chances of getting dementia, a leading research charity says.
Alzheimer's Research UK warns that the vast majority of people are not doing enough to cut their chances of developing dementia later in life. It wants to help people make healthy choices to reduce their odds of getting dementia.
Around 40% of dementias are considered to be linked to lifestyle factors and unhealthy habits.
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The charity has launched a new Think Brain Health Check-In tool which people can use to examine lifestyle factors they could change to potentially reduce their risk of developing dementia.
Professor Jonathan Schott, chief medical officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said that only 30% of people know that there is something that they can do to individually reduce their risks
“There are some people who are (genetically) destined to develop dementia, but we know now that up to 40% of worldwide dementia risk is potentially modifiable,” he said.
“And we now are developing a rational evidence base of at least 12 modifiable and potentially modifiable risk factors. It’s vital that we do all that we can, as individuals and society, to reduce our risk.”
He added: “Dementia is now the most feared consequence of ageing so people are wanting to know what they can do about their risk. I think that it’s empowering to individuals to know that there are some things that they can do.”
12 steps you can take to reduce chances of getting dementia
As mentioned above, most people who get dementia do so due to genetics, but 40% of cases could potentially be avoided through healthy choices.
Alzheimer's Research UK says you can take these 12 steps to cut your chances of developing dementia later in life
- Getting at least seven hours of sleep a night
- Regularly challenging the brain
- Looking after mental wellbeing
- Staying socially active
- Looking after your hearing
- Eating a balanced diet
- Staying physically active
- Quitting smoking
- Drinking responsibly
- Keeping a healthy level of cholesterol
- Maintaining healthy blood pressure
- Managing diabetes as well as possible
Dr Charles Marshall, clinical senior lecturer in dementia at Queen Mary University of London, called for brain health to be included in the NHS Health Check.
“I think what we need to do is think about combining a sort of education approach where we teach people about what they can do to keep their brains healthy with also improved early detection and diagnosis so that we can give people personalised interventions as early as possible,” he said.
“One example of this might be an updated NHS health check that includes a major brain health focus that can identify when people have these risk factors but also something where we can identify early warning signs of dementia.”
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