There are some lesser-known hacks that could stave off dementia. Photo / 123RF
From routine vaccinations to lavender on your pillow, these small changes could shield you from cognitive decline.
Most of us know about the importance of staying active and eating healthily as we age to fight off the risk of dementia – but what about the more unexpected tricks that could help?
In the past year, two new drugs have shown breakthrough success in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s, but these are years away from approval, and the side effects are currently unclear.
“With no cure for dementia, there’s a growing need for more non-pharmacological interventions,” said Dr Henk Swanepoel, the lead neuropsychologist at Cygnet Health Care.
Here are the lesser-known life hacks that could dial down your risk.
Did you know that your shingles and pneumococcal vaccinations might protect you against Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia?
Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston and Massachusetts General Hospital looked at the health records of hundreds of thousands of people aged over 65, comparing those who were vaccinated with those who were not vaccinated.
Dr Avram Bukhbinder, the study’s co-author, said that the risk of new-onset Alzheimer’s was reduced by “25 per cent with herpes zoster [shingles] vaccination and 27 per cent with pneumococcal vaccination.”
In a previous study, Dr Bukhbinder and colleagues found that the flu vaccine was associated with reducing Alzheimer’s risk by up to 40 per cent.
The pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for those over 65 as it protects against serious illnesses such as pneumonia and meningitis.
In New Zealand, the shingles vaccine is free for 12 months once you turn 65.
Why might vaccines have a protective effect? Dr Bukhbinder pointed out that “the infections they protect against cause systemic inflammation – that is, inflammation that’s elsewhere in your body and not directly in your brain”.
He continued: “We have evidence that, especially in older adults, systemic inflammation affects inflammation in the brain. And we know that this neuroinflammation is part of the development of Alzheimer’s.
“So if we can prevent these infections we can reduce neuroinflammation and, maybe, the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Another idea is that these vaccines might rejuvenate or “wake up” your immune system.
Dr Bukhbinder said: “As we age, our immune system slows down, it’s a little worse at fighting viruses and other pathogens. These vaccines are helping the immune system better clear the toxic protein build-ups in the brain that contribute to Alzheimer’s.”
Love the scent of lavender in your bedroom to help you drop off? Then we have good news: it could actually boost your memory and cognition, according to a new study from the University of California.
When 43 adults with no cognition problems were exposed to the smell of an essential oil for two hours every night for six months, they saw a 226 per cent improvement in memory compared with a group who received a small amount of diffused scent.
Brain scans also revealed that the essential oil group had better functioning in a part of the brain associated with memory and cognition which usually declines with age.
“Information about odours has direct input to areas involved in cognition, memory and emotion,” explained Dr Donald Wilson – a director and senior research scientist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in New York – who was not involved with the research.
In fact, he said that our sense of smell is far more tapped into our cognition than any of our other senses.
“Research shows that just breathing, even if there’s no odour, can entrain the activity of cognition, memory and emotion which helps them communicate with each other,” he said.
“This is important for storing and retrieving memories and keeping memory-related regions active. Smelling odours during sleep may help give the system a boost by enhancing this communication, but precisely how this works isn’t fully clear yet.”
Not only do they taste delicious, but research has found that strawberries are rich in a compound that may help ward off Alzheimer’s.
A 2022 study from Rush University, Chicago, found that the compound pelargonidin is linked with fewer neurofibrillary tau tangles in the brain – tau tangles are abnormal build-ups of a protein called tau in your brain and they’re one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers said that the protection may come from the anti-inflammatory effect of pelargonidin – out of all berries, strawberries are the best source of this compound.
Prof Puja Agarwal said that the study, which she authored, offers “hope on how specific dietary components such as berries may help brain health”. Sounds like a good reason to add strawberries to your fruit salad.
Outside of the summer, red radishes are also a good source of pelargonidin.
In a small study from the Indoor Air Journal, researchers found that exposure to ultrafine particles – which are found in cooking fumes from gas and can penetrate the body – during cooking causes changes to brain activity which is similar to what happens in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Thirteen men and women were present while chicken was fried on a gas stove – and so they were exposed to ultrafine particles. Brain activity was recorded using an electroencephalograph (EEG) before cooking, at the end of cooking and 30 minutes after cooking.
The researchers found that brain waves decreased during exposure to the ultrafine particles, similar to people with neurodegenerative diseases – but levels went back to normal after 30 minutes. Yet researchers say that people chronically exposed to cooking aerosol might progress towards Alzheimer’s.
To counter the effect, researchers suggest using respirators or ventilation during cooking to reduce any potential risk.
A new study published in the journal Jama Ophthalmology added clout to the idea that vision problems and dementia are linked. There were almost 4,000 participants in the study, with an average age of 77.
People with “moderate to severe” distance vision issues were 72 per cent more likely than those with no vision issues to have dementia. Mild vision problems did not make much difference to dementia risk.
Experts said it may be that sight problems can add cognitive load to your brain and are linked to changes in brain function and structure similar to what happens in dementia.
“If there’s a decline in visual information then your brain isn’t as stimulated as it should be,” said Dr Swanepoel.
He argued that people should be prioritising their vision health “and use it as an indicator for cognitive decline”.
There is solid evidence to suggest that too much television will not do your dementia risk any favours. The 2018 UK Biobank Study – which began following roughly half a million UK adults in 2006 – found that more time spent watching television was linked with a slide in cognitive function over five years, when participants did tests on memory, problem-solving and number recall.
Last year, researchers looked at the same group of people – this time, researchers were interested in television versus computer use and dementia.
People who watched more than four hours of TV a day were 24 per cent more likely to develop dementia. Those who used computers interactively for more than an hour a day were 15 per cent less likely to develop dementia.
Dr Swanepoel said: “Watching television is a passive activity. It’s not strenuous for your brain. You just have to take in information and you don’t necessarily have to retain it. Whereas using a computer is generally a higher cognitive task.”
So by all means enjoy The Crown, but one episode at a time.
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