{"id":1234,"date":"2018-01-15T03:40:07","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T03:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/?p=706"},"modified":"2018-01-15T03:40:07","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T03:40:07","slug":"how-you-could-keep-dementia-at-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/2018\/01\/15\/how-you-could-keep-dementia-at-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"How you could keep Dementia at bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are five things you can do to reduce the risk of dementia:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dementia is a devastating illness that affects one in 10 people over 65 but recent research suggests there are things you can do to reduce the risk of it happening to you.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Economic Cost of Dementia in Australia report estimates that 413,000 Australians are living with dementia.1<\/sup> One in four people over the age of 85 will have dementia and by the age of 95, it\u2019s one in two.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

Dementia is not one disease but a range of conditions that cause a loss of mental functioning as we age. While age is the biggest risk factor, dementia is not inevitable.<\/p>\n

What to do:<\/h2>\n

Dr Maree Farrow, a cognitive neuroscientist with the University of Tasmania\u2019s Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, says there are five key ways to reduce your risk:[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stay mentally active<\/h3>\n

People who have mentally stimulating jobs or hobbies have a lower chance of developing dementia as they age. \u201cIt\u2019s learning something new or different that\u2019s important,\u201d Dr Farrow says.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stay physically active<\/h3>\n

Physical activity helps grow new brain cells and new connections between brain cells. It also boosts the levels of the chemicals that help keep brain cells healthy.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eat well<\/h3>\n

The most positive results on diet point to fruit and vegetables, which are rich in antioxidants.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stay socially active<\/h3>\n

A large network of friends helps your brain. \u201cYou have to understand facial expressions and body language,\u201d Dr Farrow says. \u201cLots of different parts of your brain are working.\u201d<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Watch your key numbers<\/h3>\n

Keep your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels in the healthy range. If the blood vessels in your brain are unhealthy, they will damage your brain cells.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Brown, Prof. L., Hansnata, E. and La, H. A. (2017), The\u00a0 Economic Cost of Dementia in Australia 2016-2056. Report commissioned by Alzheimer\u2019s Australia and developed by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra. Sourced from: https:\/\/www.fightdementia.org.au\/files\/NATIONAL\/documents\/The-economic-cost-of-dementia-in-Australia-2016-to-2056.pdf<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Rehbin, A. (2013), \u2018Speaking with Cognitive Neuroscientist \u2013 Dr Maree Farrow\u2019, The Australian Hospital & Healthcare Bulletin. Sourced from: www.hospitalhealth.com.au\/content\/aged-allied-health\/article\/speaking-with-cognitive-neuroscientist-dr-maree-farrow-282646186.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five things you can do to reduce the risk of dementia: Dementia is a devastating illness that affects one in 10 people over 65 but recent research suggests there are things you can do to reduce the risk of it happening to you.[1] The Economic Cost of Dementia in Australia report estimates that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[62,63],"class_list":["post-1234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aged-care","category-news","tag-dementia","tag-health"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedagedcare.com.au\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}