Reducing the risk of dementia

Some of the risk factors, like our age our genetics, and our gender we can’t change, but other things we can. We have become familiar with the health messages associated with reducing our risk of getting cancer and diabetes for example, and while we know that some people will get ill even by following a healthy lifestyle, we also know that these illnesses are less likely if we take certain actions. The same is true for dementia and, as with these other conditions, it is important to take action even in our 30s or 40s.

The risk factors that we can’t change are our age, our genetics, and our gender. As we get older the likelihood of getting dementia increases and although extremely rare, some types of dementia are caused by genetic factors. We also know that more women get dementia than men, and this is not explained only by the fact that women tend to live longer than men. As dementia is so common, many of us will have a relative with dementia, but this does not mean that we will get it too. The good news is that most of us won’t.