8 Things You Can Do to Prevent or Delay Dementia
Dementia is an impaired state of mind, which takes away the ability to think or remember. A common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. According to statistics, at the moment in the world, there are about 50 million people with dementia. And every year another 10 million get added. They say that in thirty years this figure will grow 3-4 times, and then there will be from 150 to 200.
You can also be among them. If you think that this is only a disease of the elderly, then you are mistaken. There are enough cases of dementia in the world, which began as early as 30 years old. For every 100,000 people with dementia, more than 50 of them were young. And if you want to stay sane all your life, then read this article thoroughly.
Tips to Prevent Dementia
Here are some tips that can help you prevent and in some cases even delay dementia.
Take Care of Your Hearing
Scientists are figuring out how deterioration and complete loss of hearing contribute to the onset of dementia. But they have several assumptions. One of them is that through hearing, a person receives a huge amount of information that makes his/her brain work more actively.
Even just extraneous noises have an effect, be it the sound of a sharp braking of a car or the singing of a bird. When hearing becomes severely impaired or completely disappears, the gray matter begins something like starvation.
It leads to subsequent cognitive distortions and in most cases to dementia. Therefore, as soon as you suddenly feel that you begin to hear those around you worse, immediately run to the doctor. If necessary buy a hearing aid and do not be shy about it.
Avoid Drinking Alcohol
According to scientists, excessive consumption of alcohol leads to the early development of dementia. Therefore, if you want to avoid it, restrict the consumption of alcoholic drinks. As they affect the working of the brain, causing poor cognitive and learning processes. You need to get treated as soon as possible.
If you cannot afford the treatment, do not worry. There are many rehab programs funded by the state, you can find them and get low-cost treatment. Dementia can really cause pain for the people around you, do yourself and them a favor by avoiding this habit.
Learn Something New Every Day
Knowledge in general is the key to your successful life. Research shows that a constant thirst for knowledge will help you not only be smarter but also keeps your brain working. The new information you process will serve as a kind of support and shield, which scientists also call a cognitive reserve.
Thanks to it, the likelihood that the brain will undergo cognitive changes and falls gets sharply reduced. It is enough to spend half an hour a day learning something new. Just 30 minutes will protect you from future dementia, so don’t neglect them.
Quit Smoking
We are not the first to remind you of this stupid habit once again. And if you already gave up this habit of smoking, we congratulate you. You not only saved a considerable amount of your money but also reduced the risk of contracting dementia. The fact is that smoking begins to affect your body by impairing the work of the cardiovascular system.
And instead of oxygen, neurotoxins contained in tobacco begin to enter your head. It works destructively against your convolutions. All this can turn into dementia in one moment, which, of course, you do not need.
Avoid Depression
We all tend to experience negative emotions, but someone quickly copes with them, and someone gets hung up on them. According to experts, stress and depression are directly related to the factor of decreasing neural connections in the human brain. Therefore, as soon as you feel that nothing will help you, immediately seek help from a specialist. Psychotherapy and antidepressants help protect a person from dementia.
Go In For Sports
A sport like knowledge is the key to your good, long, and healthy life. Physical activity, like intellectual activity, builds additional protection around your brain against the danger of becoming mentally ill. Exercise helps reduce cortisol levels in the body, which turns out to be protective as well.
Plus, the risk of vascular diseases gets reduced. Also, when playing sports the growth of nerve cells increases, a large number of which will also protect you. For physically inactive people, the risk of becoming demented increases.
Control Your Weight
According to many studies, obesity can directly affect the development of dementia. With obesity, blood flow to the brain begins to decrease. Consequently, the brain does not work as it needs to. Oxidative stress plays an important role in this. This is a state of the body in which there are too many free radicals – molecules without one electron.
They are dangerous in that they can start a destructive chain reaction, destroying healthy cells. Therefore, it is better to think today about how to lose a couple of extra pounds than later, when there will be nothing special to think about.
Monitor Your Sugar Levels
People with diabetes are more prone to dementia. And the main reason due to which dementia can develop is diabetes itself. Therefore, it is better to avoid this by controlling the sugar level in the body now.
Sugar can destroy teeth and your brain too. Not to mention, while the sugar gets to your gray matter, it will hit a couple of vital organs along the way. We advise you not to dismiss this habit and go check your sugar level.
Conclusion
Our brain is indeed a gift that performs many functions within our body. Without our cognitive capabilities, we will not be able to enjoy life as much as we do now. However, you can stop this from happening by following the tips mentioned in this article. Be healthy and wise!