How to prevent dementia

My DB was a very healthy man. Very clever, slim in build ate and drank sensibly, did not smoke, kept active and fit in body and mind. Was very calm and not stressed. Only ever had one day in hospital in his whole like. Somewhere around 85 he started to show signs of dementia. He died aged 91 from pnemonia due to dementia.

Healthy eating and healthy lifestyle is all well and good but at the end of the day I don't think it stops you getting sick in body or mind.

All of the above are beneficial to everyday health, but don’t count on them beating dementia and don’t imagine that anything you could have done could have prevented it in a parent or partner
There is enough guilt associated with the terminal or chronic disease of a partner or parent without feeling we have to beat ourselves up about their lifestyle. ?.

My Dad had Type 2 Diabetes and was as sharp as a tack until his sudden death at 86. Mum was perfectly fit and never spent a day in hospital or saw a doctor ....yet she got dementia. It's all a bit of a lucky ( or unlucky) dip, isn't it.

we all knew someone who smoked 40 unfiltered Woodbines a day and lived to 100!

Then there's the example of my Grandmother and her mother, my GGM. GM was overweight all her life, moved as little as possible, chain smoked from age 14 till she died aged 87.

Her DM was fit, wiry active, never smoked, had the occasional glass of stout...and died at the age of 87.

Go figure!

I so agree with the last two comments. The first time we knew that my mum had a problem was when she drove her car off the road and through a hedge at the age of 79. She had had a TIA. Luckily, no one was hurt. However, she also had type 2 diabetes. She went for tests - no routine scans then- and her GP rang me up at home with no warning to tell me very bluntly that she had vascular dementia. He didn't offer any hope or advice and I was left sobbing on the end of the phone. I didn't tell her straight away and then very gently. Ten years later, after an unhappy decade for her and the whole family, and just before her death, another doctor discovered that she was accutely low in vitamin B12, and tried to administer injections. It was difficult, because by then her veins had collapsed. I have since read that the confusion, and more especially the frightening hallucinations she suffered, would have been exacerbated by lack of vitamin B12. It is a known fact that a large proportion of the elderly in this country are short of that vitamin because the aging body doesn't retain it. Apparently the injections are cheap and I read that in some countries they are considered to be part of the health programme. Not so here. I will never accept that dementia is inevitable and I try to lead a very active life, exercise, play an instrument, learn a foreign language and eat well. At least that way I know I am doing my best. But alot more needs to be done in research and it should have a priority. The government has our money. Over to the powers that be......

My mum had vascular dementia after a series of strokes, her sister developed dementia subsequent to hanging curtains and falling off a ladder. She hit her head on the dining table and was in a coma for a month. Their younger brother fell down stairs hitting his head and developed dementia. Their older brother aged 92 is the only one still alive and although having battled with bowel and prostate cancer now in remission, has had no falls or strokes and does not have dementia.

Recently I read that both Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan both bragged that they only needed 3/4 hours sleep at night and interestingly both suffered dementia.

It’s okay Jane thank you. It was a very long time ago. Almost another life.

gilly sorry crossed posts again. I hope you can find some way to reduc your DH’s (and yours) stressful working conditions.

Sadly, stress is a huge factor which, as you rightly point out gilly may not always be under our control ?

Thanks oldmeg

gilly sorry I hadn’t seen your post of 8.06 when I posted. I’m sorry about your loss of your DH.

Thank you again for very informative information Jane

My DH had a stroke earlier this year. His consultant said “he was a very unlikely candidate for a stroke” healthy diet, doesn’t smoke, alcohol in moderation, hasn’t got a pick of fat on him, physically and mentally active etc.

We know that the cause of his stroke was acute stress which there is nothing whatsoever we can do about. His consultant is fully aware of the pressure he is under at work and says if he could write him a prescription to enable him to retire he would. I guess the point I am trying to make is there are just some things you can’t change no matter how much you might want to. Our life is like being on a giant treadmill that you can’t get off.

*Lifestyle changes are about lowering risk.
Lowering risk is just that - you can never remove risk entirely*

Gilly the point above from janeainsworth’s post is the relevant part. That’s what we are trying to get across.

Gilly You were just always going to suffer from dementia . End of.

No. It isn’t as pre-determined or as simple as that. You may have an increased risk because of your genetic make-up, but even if you have the genes that are associated with an increased risk, you might not develop the condition.
And people who don’t have that genetic makeup may still develop it. There’s lots of information on the Alzheimer’s Society website.

Lifestyle changes are about lowering risk.
Lowering risk is just that - you can never remove risk entirely. That’s why some people who have ticked all the boxes and done all they could, still get it.

My personal view is that most of us are going to die with some degenerative condition or other. But my aim is to stay healthy and active and do the things I enjoy doing for as long as possible. I think that following the lifestyle recommendations for reducing risk of Alzheimer’s, which are the same as those for reducing risk of cardiovascular disease and other conditions as well, offer me the best chance of that.

we all knew someone who smoked 40 unfiltered Woodbines a day and lived to 100!

Indeed we do OldMeg likewise we (well I do) know people who lived very healthy lifestyles and died very young. My 2nd husband for example. He had a very healthy diet, hardly drank, played every kind of sport you can imagine, did a physically challenging job etc. And dropped down dead in his 30’s !

It’s interesting Maw how these metabolic conditions are inter-related. Metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels — that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. And now they’re adding some types of dementia into the mix.

I agree that there is a genetic component, just as there is to heart disease and type 2 diabetes, etc. but some will put that at perhaps 25% and lifestyle factors at 75%.

It behoves us to, at least, take some responsibility for our own health rather than just take the approach that it’s ‘in our genes’ and we have no control. But of course it’s very hard to change attitudes as we all knew someone who smoked 40 unfiltered Woodbines a day and lived to 100!

That was my point Old Meg I was not saying it is not good advice per se just that as far as I could see it didn’t offer any specific help regarding Dementia.
But I suspect causes of dementia are as varied as the types (or even more complex) and if it can reduce the incidence of Type2 that is a good thing.
So much is bound up with living longer too. Even 100 years ago “three score and ten” was a good age so is it lifestyle which causes the increase in illness such as cancer, type 2 or dementia or the fact that we have not previously succumbed to pneumonia, flu or heart attacks?

Isn’t it more or less the same advice Maw?

I totally agree with you Mawboon my mum ticked all the boxes that you ticked She and Dad had an extremely healthy lifestyle their diet had no salt, very little sugar, lots of Dads home grown vegetables, and lots of fish They had no car, walked and cycled (bused more in later years) took their fish oil psupplements Had a fairly simple but good lifestyleThey didn’t smoke, had one glass of homemade wine socially with their dinner, mum was a teacher, read avidly and loved her crosswords They were together from 16 and 18 and did everything that the other did yet my mum had seven hideous years of Alzheimer’s and dads brain was solid till the day he died

We have all seen the old alcoholic, picking up dogends rolling their own with dirty hands and eating out the gutter and as fit as a flea

I m sure it’s mainly genetics although you can help your general health in the ways the article expresses but I hope people don’t go away believeing they can expressly avoid dementia

Mawbroon you have my sympathy regarding your friends. My dh & I have had a distressing day today with a friend with Alzheimer's. Like your friends, he ticks all the boxes for a healthy life but he is gradually succumbing to dementia anyway. He probably won't be attending his own 70th birthday celebration in two weeks time.

Type 2 diabetes has much to answer for and I think advice on lifestyle changes to fend it off is rather more credible and effective.
(win-win situation Old Meg?)

That’s the very point I was trying (badly) to make Maw thank you .

But what if you already live by those “lifestyle choices” Jane ? And really don’t need to make any changes ? You were just always going to suffer from dementia . End of.

With the huge rise in people presenting with Type 2, at increasingly early ages, this is worrying.

Type 2 diabetics have an increased risk of developing dementia.

My job was working in a Dementia unit in a medium sized nursing home. Our Residents came from all walks of life. We looked after a university professor, a clergyman, the gentleman who started up the local BBC radio stations, housewives, coalmen, school teachers. We even nursed one of Winston Churchill's war time secretaries, and a lady with her concentration camp tattoo.
I have long held the belief that dementia is a lottery. You succumb to it or you don't.
My Dad had dementia, my mother didn't. So I have a 50/50 chance of remaining me, if as I expect genetics has a part to play.

Reading through the GN article, the two people I am closest to who both have Alzheimer’s tick all the boxes for reducing the chances of getting it!
Healthy diet ✔️
Fish oils and vitamins (same thing?) ✔️
Limited alcohol intake (actually none in one case) ✔️
Physical activity -a keen gardener and a keen walker ✔️
Challenge mind- one a university lecturer, one a primary teacher also bilingual in French ✔️
Active social life ✔️ Family and loads of good friends, both very social people
Managed stress levels? ✔️ Neither is the type of person to get particularly stressed
Age related? One diagnosed in their 70’s the other early/mid 60’s
I know this is anecdotal, but still maintain that research is still a long way off determining the causes of d mention andvwhether or not anything can stave it off.
All of the above are beneficial to everyday health, but don’t count on them beating dementia and don’t imagine that anything you could have done could have prevented it in a parent or partner.