Dementia:  It is NOT Inevitable

By Shlomo Maital  

     As an old guy, I am naturally keenly interested in the causes of dementia – especially, pro-active ways to forestall it.  This article * that has just been published is very helpful.  It contains a kind of scorecard, to show the antecedents (forerunners) of dementia, with a very large simple of senior British citizens taken over a fairly long period of time. 

   Here, summarized, are the results, showing statistically the main antecedents:

 *  Parental history – pretty big.  Not much you can do to change your parents.

 *  Diabetes.  You can do much to prevent or mitigate it, with proper diet.

*  Depression.  A tough one.  Seniors have loads of reasons to be unhappy.  We can find little ways to find daily happiness – especially when it is therapeutic.

  *  Stroke:  This one has the biggest ‘beta’ coefficient (magnitude).  You can lower the odds of stroke, by treating high blood pressure, for instance. 

 *  There are other factors: cholesterol (treatable with statins), hypertension (treatable with medication). 

    The bottom-line message:  A healthy person in body and mind is less likely to incur dementia.  Exercise for the brain and the body, purpose in life, having a loving community – all can help.  The study shows – we CAN lower the odds of dementia.  And it is worth the try.  

 * Anatürk, M., Patel, R., Ebmeier, K. P., Georgiopoulos, G., Newby, D., Topiwala, A., … & Suri, S. (2023). Development and validation of a dementia risk score in the UK Biobank and Whitehall II cohorts. BMJ Ment Health, 26(1).