A new study has shown self-reflection can help decrease the risks of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive condition, which means the symptoms develop gradually over many years and eventually become more severe. It affects multiple brain functions. The first sign of Alzheimer's disease is usually minor memory problems.
Dr Amir Khan appeared on Good Morning Britain today to discuss the latest study and add his own thoughts and expert advice on how to lower the risks of getting the disease. Host Ben Shephard asked his thoughts on how 10 minutes of self reflection a day can help.
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The Dr said: "So we've known for a while that exercising your brain in different ways helps reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's and we encourage everyone to do that. Now what we know about self reflection is that it helps calmness, it helps reduce stress and that type of thing.
"We know that reducing stress and anxiety links to lower levels of Alzheimer's as well. So calming, reflecting, exercising the brain, this is what this study confirms and just ten minutes a day of just sitting down and contemplating may help reduce the risks of Alzheimer's. So we should all be doing that."
The Alzheimer’s Society has given its backing to the study saying it could pave the way to “one day reduce the risk of dementia with psychological treatments that help people build healthy thought patterns”. The number of people living with dementia in the UK is set to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.
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