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1. Enjoy tea, berries, dark chocolate and red wine
All are rich in flavonoids a natural compound already known to have a host of health benefits. Flavonoids are found in a range of colourful plant foods and now researchers from Australia and Ireland have found that consuming lots of them is linked to a lower risk of dementia, especially among those considered to be at higher risk due to genetics or health problems such as high blood pressure. For the study, published in JAMA Network Open, they looked at the diets of more than 120,000 people in the UK, aged 40 to 70, over a period of almost a decade. Tea, red wine and berries were identified as being especially protective.
2. Consider intermittent fasting
Obesity in middle age increases dementia risk in later life by about 30%. Emerging science is now suggesting that intermittent fasting leads to improved memory and executive function – the mental skills that help us solve problems, set goals and manage emotion. An eight-week randomised trial, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging in the US, took 40 cognitively normal but overweight older adults and had them follow either a 5.2 intermittent fasting plan or a healthy living diet based on calorie reduction. Both led to improvements but intermittent fasting showed significantly better results for executive function, learning and memory.
3. Get regular eye checks
There is mounting evidence of a link between vision problems and dementia in older adults with one recent study from Johns Hopkins University in the US finding that one in five dementia cases could potentially be prevented if eyesight problems were treated. This ties in with previous evidence that restoring vision with cataract surgery lowers the risk of developing dementia by 30%. Even when wearing glasses or contact lenses, older adults who score badly on vision tests are also likely to perform worse in cognitive tests. As well as looking after your eyes, it pays to get your hearing checked. Developing hearing loss in middle age has been linked to brain shrinkage and dementia, while hearing aid use is associated with less decline in memory skills.
4. Avoid light pollution
Excessive light pollution at night may raise the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia. Researchers from Rush University Medical Center in the US studied light pollution maps of 48 US states. They found that, for people over 65, living in areas of higher night-time light intensity presented a higher risk than other factors including obesity and high blood pressure. For those under 65, it was a greater risk than any other factor examined in the study. This may be due to differences in light sensitivity. “Additionally, younger people are more likely to live in urban areas and have lifestyles that may increase exposure to light at night,” says the study’s lead author Robin Voigt-Zuwala.
Researchers suggest those living in areas of high light pollution use blackout curtains or sleep with eye masks. While they didn’t examine artificial indoor light, they say using blue light filters and installing dimmers in the home can reduce light exposure.
5. Breathe clean air
High levels of a type of air pollution known as fine particulate matter have recently been identified as a potential risk factor for dementia. Traffic fumes, smoking fires, industry and agriculture are all sources of this. The research so far seems to suggest that wildfires have an especially strong association with impaired brain function. Researchers advise lowering risk by staying indoors when the air quality index is above 100 and wearing a KN95 when outdoors in unhealthy air. Meanwhile, using HEPA air filters will remove most of the particulate pollution from the air you breathe indoors.
Also…to prevent or delay dementia everything from having a healthy gut microbiome to managing cholesterol and blood pressure, staying physically active, maintaining strong social connections, not smoking, having moderate alcohol consumption, staying mentally healthy and avoiding head injuries, is believed to have an impact. For women, having a later menopause and a longer reproductive period also seems to lower risk. However, taking hormone replacement therapy post-menopause is not at this point recommended for dementia prevention. In fact, there is even some evidence it is associated with an increased risk.
