Lifestyle choices can play a major role, with evidence suggesting the lowest risk is seen in people who adopt healthier habits in midlife, roughly between 40 and 65.
People over 75 are much more likely to get dementia, but it can affect younger people too(Image: Visoot Uthairam via Getty Images)
There’s strong evidence that the way we live can influence our chances of developing dementia.
Risk appears lowest among people who adopt healthier habits in midlife, around ages 40 to 65. And while no single change can guarantee prevention, some behaviours are easier to modify than others, giving people the best chance they have to prevent health issues, and live a healthy life.
Alzheimer’s Society experts state that there are a few things people can adopt as part of their daily routine – and physical exercise is one of them. The experts say: “Doing regular physical activity is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of dementia. It’s good for your heart, circulation, weight and mental wellbeing.”
They further explain: “There are two main types of physical activity – aerobic activity and strength-building activity. Each type will keep you fit in different ways. Doing a combination of these activities will help you to reduce your risk of dementia.”
The NHS also urges people to get moving, noting it’s good to “exercising for at least 150 minutes every week by doing moderate-intensity aerobic activity (such as cycling or fast walking), or as much as you’re able to”. This should help prevent the condition.
What kind of exercise can I do?
Strength-building activity examples can be found on the NHS website here. You can also find aerobic activity examples and video by the NHS here.
Other changes and factors that can lower your risk
The Alzheimer’s Society also urges people to:
- Drink less alcohol
- Reduce or stop smoking
- Stay mentally well and socially active
- Manage long-term health conditions
- Protect your eyesight and hearing
- Protect your head
- Reduce exposure to polluted air
The NHS suggests:
- stopping smoking
- keeping alcohol to a minimum
- eating a healthy, balanced diet, including at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day
- making sure your blood pressure is checked and controlled through regular health tests
- if you have diabetes, make sure you keep to the diet and take your medicine
What are the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s?
The first sign of Alzheimer’s disease is usually minor memory problems. For example, this could be forgetting recent conversations, names, events, places or objects.
As the condition progresses, memory problems become more severe, and additional symptoms may develop. This could be:
- confusion, disorientation and getting lost in familiar places
- difficulty planning or making decisions
- problems with speech and language
- problems moving around without assistance or performing self-care tasks
- behaviour changes, such as becoming aggressive or suspicious of others
- hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) and delusions (believing things that are untrue)
- low mood or anxiety
You can read all about symptoms and how it develops via the NHS here.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.dailyrecord.co.uk
