Lifestyle Changes to Avert Dementia
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…