Give me the evidence... Not just waffle. From the geriatrician where I work - he's sceptical. Maybe has an effect on vascular dementia... Given the healthiest 74yo I know, still runs a couple of kilometres most days, can't remember his daughter's name - yeah he has dementia - and the Prof of Gen Med, super healthy lifestyle, got the diagnosis a few months after he retired... As did his equally healthy wife a couple of years later... And yeah, my mother who 'did everything right' spent the last eight years of her life rotting in a nursing home with dementia... In my world, people did all that, and they still got dementia by the age of 70.
Thank you for sharing. I'm very sorry to hear about your mother's last years in a nursing home, that must have been very difficult not just for her but also her family. It seems that the prevalence of dementia in those age 85+ is around 30-40%. While some neurocognitive experts say that around 60% is preventable, it seems that the most solid data or consensus we have put the prevention somewhere around 50%. Unfortunately, that's still 15-20% of adults who will go on to develop dementia even with the best efforts. While being 'healthy' can really go a long way to help prevent dementia, it seems that it might not be enough according to the 2024 Lancet Commission on dementia.
It's worth saying that I would never want to put any undue pressure on my own patients when it comes to dementia. Treatments and prevention only work when we believe in them. If someone is skeptical or doesn't believe in prevention it's much more important to me that they feel supported through their health journey rather than feeling all the pressure of having to do everything possible to prevent dementia.
Give me the evidence... Not just waffle. From the geriatrician where I work - he's sceptical. Maybe has an effect on vascular dementia... Given the healthiest 74yo I know, still runs a couple of kilometres most days, can't remember his daughter's name - yeah he has dementia - and the Prof of Gen Med, super healthy lifestyle, got the diagnosis a few months after he retired... As did his equally healthy wife a couple of years later... And yeah, my mother who 'did everything right' spent the last eight years of her life rotting in a nursing home with dementia... In my world, people did all that, and they still got dementia by the age of 70.
Thank you for sharing. I'm very sorry to hear about your mother's last years in a nursing home, that must have been very difficult not just for her but also her family. It seems that the prevalence of dementia in those age 85+ is around 30-40%. While some neurocognitive experts say that around 60% is preventable, it seems that the most solid data or consensus we have put the prevention somewhere around 50%. Unfortunately, that's still 15-20% of adults who will go on to develop dementia even with the best efforts. While being 'healthy' can really go a long way to help prevent dementia, it seems that it might not be enough according to the 2024 Lancet Commission on dementia.
It's worth saying that I would never want to put any undue pressure on my own patients when it comes to dementia. Treatments and prevention only work when we believe in them. If someone is skeptical or doesn't believe in prevention it's much more important to me that they feel supported through their health journey rather than feeling all the pressure of having to do everything possible to prevent dementia.