Reduce your risk of dementia right now
By Ben Tinker, CNN
World Alzheimer’s Report: 44 million people worldwide are living with dementia
That number is expected to nearly double by 2030
What’s good for your heart is good for your brain, scientists say
(CNN) — The statistics, unfortunately, are staggering. An estimated 44 million people worldwide are living with dementia, according to a report released Tuesday by Alzheimer’s Disease International.
As life expectancies continue to rise around the globe, that number is expected to nearly double by 2030 and more than triple by 2050.
But there is some good news laid out in the sixth annual World Alzheimer’s Report. For the first time, we’re starting to get a clearer understanding of cause and effect when it comes to this debilitating disease.
Alzheimer’s: The first chapter in a cruel journey
Here’s the takeaway, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International: What’s good for your heart is also good for your brain.
More specifically, there is now “persuasive evidence that dementia risk … can be modified through reduction in tobacco use and better control and detection for hypertension and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular risk factors.”
Alzheimer’s is No. 6 on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, claiming nearly 85,000 lives in 2010.
Alzheimer’s toll may rank with cancer, heart disease
“Given this epidemic scale and with no known cure, it’s crucial that we look at what we can do to reduce the risk or delay the onset of developing the disease,” wrote Marc Wortmann, executive director of Alzheimer’s Disease International. “Governments must develop adequate strategies to deal with the epidemic holistically, including tacking both reduction in risk for future generations, and adequately caring for people living with the condition and supporting their friends and family.”
The bottom line is that it’s never too late to make some changes to improve your physical and mental well-being. Here are five things you can do right now to reduce your risk of dementia:
- Look after your heart.
- Be physically active.
- Follow a healthy diet.
- Challenge your brain.
- Enjoy social activity.
The strongest evidence exists in linking dementia to a lack of education in early life, hypertension in midlife and smoking and diabetes across a lifetime, according to the new report.
“There’s also relatively strong evidence that people in low-education countries have a higher risk for Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” said Keith Fargo, director of scientific programs for the Alzheimer’s Association. “(This) can be controlled across the lifespan. Taking people and giving them a better education in grade school, high school, and college significantly lowers risk at the population level.”
It’s also important to keep our brains buzzing as we get older.
“While we don’t endorse specific activity like crosswords or mazes,” Fargo said, “we say, ‘Find a mentally challenging activity that’s fun or enjoyable for you, and you’ll maintain it. That’s going to be good for your brain health as you age.’ ”
“If we can all enter old age with better developed, healthier brains,” the report concludes, “we are likely to live longer, happier and more independent lives, with a much reduced chance of developing dementia.”
The global cost of dementia in 2010 (the latest year for which data are available) was estimated at $604 billion. That number is expected to rise to $1 trillion by 2030.
“With this in mind,” wrote World Dementia Envoy Dr. Dennis Gillings, “we can’t afford to do nothing.”
For more on this story and video go to: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/16/health/world-alzheimers-report/
Related:
The 10 warning signs of Alzheimer’s
By Ben Tinker, CNN
Early diagnosis is key for helping Alzheimer’s patients, experts say
16 online Alzheimer’s tests scored poorly on scientific validity, reliability and ethics
Rather than diagnose Alzheimer’s disease at home, head to the doctor’s office
(CNN) — More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s today, with another person developing the disease every 68 seconds. By 2050, the number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple.
As if those numbers weren’t staggering enough, consider this: Alzheimer’s disease is the only cause of death among the top 10 (it’s currently ranked No. 6) in the United States that can’t be prevented, cured or slowed down.
Ask any expert, and he or she will tell you that early diagnosis is key to helping patients live better day to day, so even though the disease is still progressing, the symptoms are less harsh.
“Our hope is that if we could identify patients who are developing the disease early, it would give us a much better opportunity to intervene with treatments, and it’s much more likely for those treatments to be effective,” says Dr. Keith Black, chairman of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
But while early diagnosis leads to early intervention, some news out of the 2013 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference is troubling: An expert panel found 16 online tests for Alzheimer’s disease scored poorly on scales of overall scientific validity, reliability and ethical factors.
“Self-diagnosis behavior … is increasingly popular online, and freely accessible quizzes that call themselves ‘tests’ for Alzheimer’s are available on the Internet,” says Julie Robillard, who presented the data this week in Boston. “However, little is known about the scientific validity and reliability of these offerings and ethics-related factors, including research and commercial conflict of interest, confidentiality and consent.”
“Frankly,” Robillard adds, “what we found online was distressing and potentially harmful.”
Robillard and her colleagues at the University of British Columbia found that unique monthly visitors for the parent sites hosting the online tests reached as high as 8.8 million.
At the same conference, another study concluded that the misdiagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in Medicare patients who actually have vascular dementia or Parkinson’s disease leads to substantial excess costs of care. The study, conducted by Analysis Group, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co., found the costs of erroneous care to be in excess of $14,000 a year per patient .
The silver lining: Those excess costs decline and eventually dissipate following a correct diagnosis.
“Recent developments in technology have greatly improved our ability to properly diagnose patients with cognitive impairment,” said Analysis Group’s Noam Kirson. “Our results suggest that there are economic benefits to properly diagnosing — as early as possible — the cause of the cognitive impairment.”
If you suspect a family member or friend is developing Alzheimer’s, take a look at these 10 warning signs of Alzheimer’s Disease, put together by the Alzheimer’s Association:
- Memory changes that disrupt daily life
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure
- Confusion with time or place
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
- New problems with words in speaking or writing
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
- Decreased or poor judgment
- Withdrawal from work or social activities
Changes in mood and personality
Rather than diagnose Alzheimer’s disease at home, head to your doctor’s office. You can also find more information at www.alz.org, or by calling the Alzheimer’s Association’s 24-hour hotline at (800) 272-3900.
The importance of early detection and early intervention can’t be stressed strongly enough. It could mean added years of lucidity and life for you or someone you love.
For more on this story and video go to: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/18/health/alzheimers-warning-signs/index.html
IMAGE: coloradodementia.org
See also iNews Cayman related story published September 21 2014 “Cayman Islands observes World Alzheimer’s Month” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/cayman-islands-observes-world-alzheimers-month/
