Dementia report: 'Use it or lose it'

[jimbo 111]

Dementia report: 'Use it or lose it' to protect against disease
Ahead of a landmark report on dementia, former health minister Lord Darzi says keeping the brain healthy means exercise, diet and mental stimulation

By Lord Darzi, director of The Institute of Global Health Innovation
6:00AM GMT 22 Dec 2014


More than a hundred years after Alzheimer’s disease was discovered, a cure remains a distant dream.
That has not stopped the dreamers. In recent weeks, reports have suggested three cups of coffee a day can prevent Alzheimer’s, that a high fat diet including coconut oil can slow the ageing of the brain and that a protein that promotes wakefulness could reduce production of brain plaques linked with dementia.
It is impossible to say where these studies might lead. On the evidence of past experience, it is likely to be nowhere. Decades of scientific effort and hundreds of millions of pounds invested have yielded scant gains in the battle against the disease.
Yet the need is immense and rising, fuelled by the ageing of societies across the globe. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 50 to 70 per cent of all cases of dementia around the globe. As the clamour for solutions grows, so also does the noise of people clutching at straws.
The degenerative brain condition that strips sufferers of their dignity and humanity is among the most feared of all those that afflict our species. It is one of the greatest health challenges we face.
Read more

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...it-or-lose-it-to-protect-against-disease.html

 

[jeany123]

Keywest put it on here this morning aren't we all sick of these headlines I am sure our generation had a healthier lifestyle than todays so there is no hope,
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?78304-Healthy-living-could-save-80-000-from-Dementia

 

[Pickles53]

Keywest put it on here this morning aren't we all sick of these headlines I am sure our generation had a healthier lifestyle than todays so there is no hope,
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?78304-Healthy-living-could-save-80-000-from-Dementia

It's often pointed out that the wartime generation, partly because of food rationing, ate more healthily and took more exercise than most of us do now. So how come the figures for dementia-related deaths in the older age groups are so high and increasing (up by more than 50%) since 1990? I know some of this can be attributed to better rates of diagnosis and reporting of dementia as a cause of death, but it's obvious that a healthy lifestyle is no guarantee that you can avoid dementia.

 

[Padraig]

I'll be seeing my daughter tomorrow and once again I'll be telling her the 'experts' are only now only realising that if we don't use our brain we'll lose it. Like many things I've told her years ago she say: "You told us that years ago."
As for saying the lack of education contributes to Dementia in later life, it depends on what is meant by Education. Is it the 'follow the leader' type? or the university of life where learning never ceases? I chose the latter and have had no other option in life.

Most of us follow what we are told and are influenced by what we watch on TV, in the news, follow like sheep in solving problems, take medicine on doctors orders without question. Why do so many people ask for advice? Can it be that we are not 'trained' to seek solutions by using our brains or learning by trial and error? I'm 83 plus and I'm pleased to say I live my life my way and have never followed the herd.
Each day is a gift not to be wasted. That is why I go running each morning to discover what my body is capable of. Life is for living as you chose, not how others tell you.
Sorry for a long post. I don't post much as I can't relate to generally accepted norms, hence I cared for my late wife in my own way. The only stress I experienced was when others attempted to become involved.

 

[jimbo 111]

Perhaps in a minority , but I do see some logic in the expression 'Use it or Lose it'
Now in my 80's I can look back at the changes in old age, for example post 1940's
Think back to the period when a lifetime was about 70+years old
Think about the lifestyle of old people in those days
Care homes where old people sat around all day in their armchairs' lost in the world of their own memories
I know this still happens at the present day , but no longer as an accepted way of dealing with the elderly
Some older people are exceptionally lucky and do daring things ,like parachute jumping , travelling the world etc.
but for the majority of us we get ( Or at least we used to get until they decided that we were perhaps an extravagance and diverted funds to more useful causes)
a lot of encouragement to be active
WE then are the generation who need to be encouraged to 'Use it or Lose it '.or we could end up being like our forebears fading away in our seventies

Due to health reasons I do not get the benefits of walking .trips out , clubs, etc
But I am sure that I do get a lot of stimulation in reading ,using the computer
interest in world and current affairs etc
And as a member of the 'older generation' I consider my life of Use it or Lose it. particularly in exercising my brain has so far prevented me from becoming just another 'oldie ' daydreaming in my armchair all day
jimbo

 

[lexy]

deleted

 

[jaymor]

T

Perhaps in a minority , but I do see some logic in the expression 'Use it or Lose it'
Now in my 80's I can look back at the changes in old age, for example post 1940's
Think back to the period when a lifetime was about 70+years old
Think about the lifestyle of old people in those days
Care homes where old people sat around all day in their armchairs' lost in the world of their own memories
I know this still happens at the present day , but no longer as an accepted way of dealing with the elderly
Some older people are exceptionally lucky and do daring things ,like parachute jumping , travelling the world etc.
but for the majority of us we get ( Or at least we used to get until they decided that we were perhaps an extravagance and diverted funds to more useful causes)
a lot of encouragement to be active
WE then are the generation who need to be encouraged to 'Use it or Lose it '.or we could end up being like our forebears fading away in our seventies

Due to health reasons I do not get the benefits of walking .trips out , clubs, etc
But I am sure that I do get a lot of stimulation in reading ,using the computer
interest in world and current affairs etc
And as a member of the 'older generation' I consider my life of Use it or Lose it. particularly in exercising my brain has so far prevented me from becoming just another 'oldie ' daydreaming in my armchair all day
jimbo

Jimbo I have to agree too but there is a 'but' coming.

When I retired I decided to get myself computer literate and signed up for some courses at our nearest college. It turned out to be expensive but well worth it when following exams. I was awarded certificates which were duly framed and had pride of place on the walls in my husband's office.

Of all those new skills I can now only use excel as I love spreadsheets and use them weekly. Everything else has gone hence me agreeing use it or loose it.

Now for use it or loose it helping to ward of dementia my 'but' comes in. My husband ran his own business for many, many years, designing lighting effects for offices, nightclubs, pubs and large residential properties. He then along with his men installed it. He then came home and did all the paper work. I did his office work on the computer and monthly when we did invoices he could tell me to the nearest £50 what we had to pay out to wholesalers and what invoices we had generated were due and for how much. He held everything in his head. His brain worked 24 hours a day, everyone said he was a workaholic and he would die with a pen in one hand and a length of cable in the other.

If anything, overworking his brain gave him Alzheimer's.

 

[Adcat]

Evening, this is very interesting. I wonder however, much is known about the risk of vascular dementia and silent atrial fibrillation? Dad was diagnosed with mixed dementia in September. He has has always been fit and healthy. Never smoked, not over weight, not diabetic. No high blood pressure. Never had a stroke. Drank in moderation. Psychiatrist told me that silent AF is now known to be high risk factor. I was shocked.

 

[LYN T]

My Husband could recite HUGE passages from Shakespeare and other texts that he taught. He was always reading for pleasure-great big, complicated books on world affairs and politics. He could read music and exercised everyday. He wasn't even 'old' when he first became ill-59. I wish these expensive reports would stop being churned out and research done with the money.

I wonder if Lord Darzi has any direct experience of Dementia?

 

[MrsTerryN]

Mum was head hunted at 65 to a new law firm when she retired from her former firm. She worked for them about three or four years. Mum also gave lectures on law. She was an well known expert on certain antiques. She even won Mastermind in UK back j the eighties on said antiques.
She read she shopped online she got dementia

 

[TinaT]

Yet another report without any real evidence! Seems we get at least one a week nowadays but dementia still plagues our lives.

xxTinaT

 

[jimbo 111]

There is a danger that a proliferation of this type of report will make the public think 'Cry Wolf'
But on the other hand we are always pushing for more publicity to make the public aware about the problems of Dementia /Alzheimer's
Maybe not the best way of getting the publicity we want , but I feel sure that it reaches more members of the public than technical reports
jimbo

 

[LynneMcV]

I'm sorry, but nothing makes my blood boil faster than having someone in the medical profession (or influential within the medical profession) spout 'use it or lose it' as a way of warding off dementia.

My husband (diagnosed at 58) had a very academic brain - his general knowledge was vast (as a child he read encyclopaedias for fun and dictionaries cover to cover), his mathematical ability (particularly mental arithmetic) was excellent. Even as an adult he was a human calculator! Throughout his life he has had an insatiable appetite for reading and learning - and when he didn't have his head in a book he was stretching his mental abilities with a wide range of activities which involved using the brain - including regular quiz nights and challenging others in completing cryptic crosswords such as those found in the Times and Telegraph.

A non-smoker, my husband regularly played sports (football, tennis, squash, bowls) walked just about everywhere as he has never wanted to learn to drive and he ate (and still eats) a healthy, balanced diet and is the perfect weight for his height.

He was highly regarded in his work and managed many people within a very busy finance department - and he managed them well, thanks to very good communication skills.

It wasn't my husband deciding to 'stop using' his brain that led to his dementia. It was the disease of the brain that stopped my husband being able to use it in the way that he had.

Now the simplest of maths leaves him stumped, he struggles with reading (though still perseveres) and he cannot express himself properly. He continues to try and stimulate his brain at every opportunity - he tries to keep up with current affairs, tests his general knowledge through tv quiz shows and tries to offer up the occasional solution to a crossword clue. He has lost the ability to write and can only use the computer now to read emails (I reply to them for him) and play games.

For me (and no doubt many others) there is nothing more heartbreaking than watching the person you love slowly have to let go of all the things they so enjoyed - and to witness the frustration they feel at not being able to to complete tasks they once found so easy and enjoyable.

At the beginning of this disease a dr used the 'use it or lose it' words on my husband. Even though it was early days I knew enough that my husband's decline had nothing to do with him not stimulating his brain and was surprised that the dr said those words. I didn't cause a stir - the dr was a locum and young, and not someone we had seen before or since.

I was infuriated because it left us with the feeling that somehow my husband had brought the disease upon himself - which is total piffle!

Believe me, if ever anyone in the medical profession utters those words to my husband again within my hearing they'll get a piece of my mind that will give them some food for thought and leave them feeling mentally stimulated for many years to come!

 

[jimbo 111]

Newspaper articles such as the one *****below that prompted this thread ,are treated with scepticism by many people who can give examples to the contrary
But how do we respond to an article today that is from an academic source that
gives credence to the comments of Lord Darzi ????????

Remember that our hopes for a future cure for Dementia /Alzheimer's rest with these academics in the research field
jimbo


*****Dementia report: 'Use it or lose it' to protect against disease
Ahead of a landmark report on dementia, former health minister Lord Darzi says keeping the brain healthy means exercise, diet and mental stimulation


Lord Darzi is a surgeon, director of The Institute of Global Health Innovation, and Executive Chair of the World Innovation Summit for Health, an initiative of the Qatar Foundation. He was a Labour health minister from 2007-9


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


This article in Daily Telegraph today ( Tues 23 Dec )

Follow five golden rules to prevent dementia, says study
Lifestyle is responsible for more than three quarters of changes in the brain, research suggests


A review of academic studies and data by researchers at the University of Edinburgh revealed that more than three quarters of cognitive decline – age-related changes in brain skills including memory and speed of thinking - was accounted for by lifestyle and other environmental factors including level of education.
One large UK study carried out over 30 years found that men aged between 45 and 59 who followed four to five of the identified lifestyle factors were found to have a 36% lower risk of developing cognitive decline and a 36% lower risk of developing dementia than those who did not.
Read more
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...llow-five-golden-rules-to-prevent-dementia-rd decsays-study.html

 

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[Padraig]

I've managed to do fine without a formal education. In addition I never had a home or family growing up in the 1930s and forties. My years locked away from age two to sixteen in the Industrial Schools of Ireland left me ignorant of the outside world.

In my first year of freedom, I received my very first Christmas present; a pair of socks. I'm too ashamed to say what I did with them. As for a healthy diet, it is now on record that the Inspector of Industrial Schools reported that the livestock were better fed than the children. No action was taken by the authorities.
I couldn't get away from Ireland fast enough; early 1949. I joined the Forces as a messing orderly; could just about read, write and add up. With no home to go to I stayed in B&B and YMCAs on weekends off and leaves. At that time it was not unusual to see signs: No Dogs or Irish allowed. How times have changed.

Up until recent years, there was shame and stigma attached to have been in an Industrial School, not unlike being afflicted with Dementia. In a sense my background helped when it came to care for my late wife.
I'd like to ask these experts how come an uneducated slob like me, managed to end up in charge of a multi-national work force and of retired in comfort by age 54? It just might be that when one lacks nurture and there is no one to turn to for guidance and advice, one is forced to use inbuilt natural resources to survive. There are more questions than answers. I'm sure all those highly educated experts who come up with theories, might well be lost if they attempted to live in a council house on a minimum wage. They might even end up with Dementia!