Good for You Good for Your Brain: the evidence on risk reduction and dementia

This booklet is about reducing the risk of dementia. Dementia is a complex condition. There is no single straightforward cause, and no way of definitely preventing it. Many factors influence an individual’s risk of developing dementia. Some of these, such as age or genetics, cannot be changed. But lifestyle factors are also linked to the risk of dementia, and this booklet looks at the evidence about these.

It is important to recognise that there can be no guarantee for an individual that if he or she does everything to reduce the risk, he or she will not develop dementia. This booklet explains what is meant by ‘risk’ and how the research is based on looking at populations of people rather than individuals.

This is not an academic text. It is written to be accessible for anyone who would like to know more about the current state of knowledge about dementia and risk. It will be useful to people who would like to consider improving their own lifestyle to try to reduce their dementia risk, and to health professionals who advise them.

Contents:

Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - Understanding risk
Chapter 3 - What are the risk factors for dementia?
Chapter 4 - Healthy eating and the brain
Chapter 5 - Physical activity and the brain
Chapter 6 - Mental activity and the brain
Chapter 7 - Social activity and the brain
Chapter 8 - Other risk factors
Other sources of information and advice
References
Glossary

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Acknowledgements

This booklet was written and edited by Maureen Thom, Alzheimer Scotland with the exception of Chapter 8 which was written by Lindsay Kinnaird, Alzheimer Scotland.
Thanks to the following people who read and commented on earlier drafts of this booklet: Dr Mayur Bodani, Lesley Brackenridge, Professor Klaus Ebmeier, Kate Fearnley, Jim Jackson, John Starr, Dr Emma Terriere, and Dr Gillian Wilson.

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The booklet is also available to download in full from the link below:

Good for You Good for Your Brain: the evidence on risk reduction and dementia (pdf, 60 pages, 774kb)

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