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Dementia: Action should
be taken earlier in life to combat diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, amid
evidence that deterioration of the brain starts when a person is in their late
40s (Photo: medicaldaily.com)
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Simple lifestyle changes
could save more than 80,000 people a year from dementia, a study has found.
The findings of the report will be presented to the World Innovation Summit for Health in Doha in February. The summit's chairman, former Labour health minister Lord Darzi, said people should act quickly to change their diet and exercise and stimulate their brains through puzzles. (The effects on people of negroid race was not mentioned.)
The findings of the report will be presented to the World Innovation Summit for Health in Doha in February. The summit's chairman, former Labour health minister Lord Darzi, said people should act quickly to change their diet and exercise and stimulate their brains through puzzles. (The effects on people of negroid race was not mentioned.)
The research, seen by the
Daily Telegraph, suggests action should be taken earlier in life to combat
diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, amid evidence that deterioration of the
brain starts when a person is in their late 40s.
Writing in the Telegraph,
he said: "The degenerative brain condition that strips sufferers of their
dignity and humanity is among the most feared of all those that afflict our
species. It is one of the greatest health challenges we face. At an individual
level we need to look after our brains - sharpen those chess skills, pick up
that crossword and solve that puzzle. Eating a healthy
diet, avoiding obesity and getting plenty of exercise are all important to
brain health because what is good for our hearts is also good for our
heads."
Some 850,000 people will
have dementia in the UK by 2015, the Alzheimer's Society has said.
The report will suggest that each year, 80,294 cases of dementia
could be prevented in Britain by lifestyle changes.
Half of such cases might
be avoided if action was taken to reduce blood pressure in mid-life, by
adopting a healthy diet and exercise, the study found.
Type 2 diabetes is
responsible for more than one third of cases, it added.
Lord Darzi said the results
marked a "significant breakthrough" in showing that individuals could
curb the effects of dementia.
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