A recent study into aspirin to prevent disease has turned up interesting findings in relation to dementia risk. When the trial was over, the researchers got the people in the trial (around 19,000 of them initially, mostly older) to agree to be followed up to monitor their general health. This had nothing to do with aspirin. The researchers simply wanted to use the fact that they had thousands of older Australians whose health and wellbeing was known in detail and could be followed to see what happened to them.
One of the conditions they were looking for was dementia and indeed over a thousand of the participants did develop dementia. When they were compared to similar people who didn’t develop dementia, they found that there were physical signals up to 11 years beforehand. People who developed dementia were more likely to have had weight loss, loss of waist circumference and a rise in what some people call the ‘good’ form of cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol – HDL.
The researchers did not believe that the changes caused the dementia but that the early changes in the brain had affected things like appetite or food preferences.
So what do you do with this information?
Well, unexplained weight loss needs to be brought to your GP’s attention so it can be investigated. There are many other causes than the earliest signs of dementia.
But if there are not reasons found, then what do you do? Live in fear of dementia?
The answer is no. There are many changes we can all make which lower dementia risk.
These include:
- Don’t smoke
- Treating high blood pressure
- Keeping diabetes well under control
- Frequent moderately intense exercise
- A mediterranean style diet
- Learning a new and complex skill like a language or a musical instrument
- Maintaining social contact with others
Further information
Dementia Australia: www.dementia.org.au
