The Lancet Commission reports that dementia cases can be prevented or delayed by 40 percent with certain lifestyle changes, including midlife obesity, excessive alcohol intake, exposure to air pollution, depression, social isolation, high blood pressure, smoking, and a lack of physical activity.
These are all things we can do something about, aren’t they? The Lancet Commission’s findings lead to a list of healthy behaviors and choices we can employ to reduce the risk of developing dementia. These are long-term lifestyle changes. Eating a healthy diet for only a month or exercising for only a few weeks will not significantly affect overall brain function.
Dementia typically appears in one’s sixties or seventies, although it’s been known to arise as early as one’s thirties. Likewise, many of us become Type 2 diabetics in those same age ranges, don’t we? Changing an unhealthy lifestyle at any age is helpful in reducing the risk of dementia, but the earlier the change is made, the better!
Don’t wait for dementia to be diagnosed. Tackle those lifestyle changes now! Even if you just take baby steps, do something toward progress. Walk twice a week. Add more vegetables to your meals and make them organic. Think beautiful thoughts and no negatives. Throw away the cigarettes and booze, or at least cut down. Get an air purifier for your home. Advance in the direction of eliminating all the bold items in the first paragraph of this article.
Each positive change in your life will feel so good. It’s up to us to make a change.