Developing senile dementia can be significantly delayed if you take control of your health and habits in time. Zhibek Zholdasova, head of the Center for the Treatment of Neuroses and Alzheimer's Disease, explained which chronic illnesses, lifestyle factors, and cognitive demands directly affect brain function, according to infohub.kz.
"There are 14 known risk factors that increase susceptibility to dementia. But if you control and minimize them, you can reduce the risk by 45%. No one can give a 100% guarantee," the doctor notes.
According to her, all risk factors can be divided into several groups. The first includes chronic diseases that raise the risk: high blood pressure, or hypertension; diabetes; traumatic brain injuries, especially after age 50; vision loss; hearing loss; depression; high cholesterol.
"If all of these are treated in time, the risk falls. That is, modern medications for high blood pressure, diabetes, antidepressants, statins — protect against dementia. Timely correction of vision and hearing also reduces the risk of developing dementia," she explains.
The next group of dementia risk factors is lifestyle. These are not diseases but habits that need to be changed. They include: smoking; alcohol consumption; obesity (though this could also be placed in the list of diseases); a sedentary lifestyle; social isolation; air pollution.
"Healthy eating and regular physical activity protect against dementia. And excess weight often leads to hypertension and diabetes, which were on the first list," the doctor emphasizes.
The last risk factor is a low level of education. Zholdasova notes that this is not always about having an academic degree, but rather the brain's ability to absorb new information and new experiences.
The doctor emphasizes that the more skills you have, the further away dementia is. Any skill and any knowledge counts. You need to learn new things throughout your life, because it consists of different spheres. It would be good to be able to do something not only in your profession but also to have a wide range of interests.
"Maybe foreign languages or musical instruments come easily to you, or various types of handicrafts, construction sets. It turns out that I enjoy building Lego sets. Recently I saw a huge spaceship, the Millennium Falcon, on sale — maybe someday I'll buy it or someone will give it to me. Learn constantly, and your cognitive reserve will someday push dementia away from you for many years," she advises.
Earlier, Zholdasova named the most common misconceptions about antidepressants.