Experts say up to 40 per cent of cases could be prevented altogether by making just seven midlife lifestyle changes. When it comes to dementia , midlife is a key period of potential intervention according to a new paper, The Middle Ageing Brain . Researchers at University College Cork highlight how this “previously understudied period of life” is crucial in predicting the future of our cognitive health.
Exactly why this period is so pivotal is “still a matter of speculation”, says Sebastian Allard, the paper’s co-lead author. However, Naji Tabet, the director of the Centre for Dementia Studies at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, says: “Research has shown that there are some modifiable risk factors, especially in midlife, that affect the later development of dementia”, adding that, by making the requisite lifestyle changes, “up to 40 per cent of cases can be prevented altogether”. Here are the seven best tactics to combat the onset of dementia.
Keep your weight in check (and eat blueberries and Romaine lettuce) The most crucial factor here is preventing obesity . “Obesity means you’re more likely to have high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure,” Tabet says. Over a sustained period all three things “will start to cause damage to the arteries and cause increased inflammation in the brain”.
“The contents of your blood have been found to go through some of the biggest changes in your 40s and 50s,” with some studies finding that some in.
