A study recently published in The Lancet* recognizes that a healthy lifestyle, “can delay or prevent 45% of all dementia cases from ever happening”, while also fostering better health as we age. That’s no surprise to us, and probably not to you either!
The article recommends that governments look at policies to fund health initiatives that support a healthy lifestyle, to improve health in the aging population, and reduce costs of dementia care.
There are currently 57 million people suffering dementia worldwide, and this number is expected to increase to 153 million by 2050. We would prefer not to be included in those figures, and we assume you feel the same!
It has long been known that there are unavoidable risk factors for dementia: increasing age, being female, and certain genetic markers. This new study collated information from hundreds of studies, including millions of individuals, to better understand the evidence of what else may contribute to dementia, and how we can postpone or avoid it as we age.
These are the avoidable or treatable risk factors they identified, listed in order of importance:
Untreated hearing loss
High LDL cholesterol (the so-called bad cholesterol)
Depression
Brain injury in midlife
Physical inactivity
Diabetes
Smoking
Untreated hypertension
Obesity
Alcoholism
And in older age:
Social isolation
Exposure to air pollution
Untreated visual impairment
The fourteenth risk factor is a low level of education, and having had negative early life experiences; considered to be factors that are not readily modified. However naturopathic medicine has tools that can help.
The risk factors that this study newly identified are the untreated hearing loss, high blood LDL Cholesterol, and untreated visual impairment.
The authors note that many of these factors are related. Diabetes, obesity, high LDL and hypertension are all part of a condition called metabolic syndrome, associated with inflammation in the whole body, including in the cardiovascular system and the brain.
Keeping active, mentally, socially and physically are all critical for healthy aging. You need your sight and hearing to be active, to stay involved in your community and interact with others. You can see how these risk factors have many points of intersection.
The authors of the study stress that the earlier people make changes in these factors, the more they can reduce their personal risk. But even for those diagnosed with early cognitive changes, there is hope. Doctors like Dale Breseden and Dean Ornish have spearheaded programs using healthy diet, movement, mindfulness, and social interaction, and these programs are yielding positive results on slowing the progression of dementia.
OUR TAKE:
Naturopathic Doctors have always believed in healthy diet and lifestyle as cornerstones of health, and we are so happy that some allopathic doctors are supporting this approach too.
Here at the Shine Health Project, we encourage everyone to make changes, big and small, to promote better health at every stage of life, every day.
* This study was called the 2024 Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care, in case you want to look it up.
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