Page 9 - BPWUK - E-news - Edition 106 - October 2022

Six warnings signs of possible dementia

1. Constantly forgetting things you were told recently and asking the same questions repeatedly.

2. Putting objects in unusual places – like your keys in the bathroom cabinet
3. Frequent problems finding the right word, using substitute words (“that thing you sit on”), jumbling
sentence structures, or, if English is your second language, going back to the language you spoke as a
child.

4. Getting lost in a familiar place or somewhere easy to navigate such as a supermarket.

5. Having difficulty making sense of what you see – for example, judging distances on stairs, or mistaking
patterns or reflections for other objects.

6. Regularly being unable to follow what someone is saying and finding it hard to take part in conversa-
tions.
For a list of ways in which dementia differs from the normal signs of ageing, visit alzheimers.org.uk

Hence his upcoming Dementia Risk Reduction Program, a six-month campaign with two essential
aims. The first is to mobilise a network of volunteers to fan out through clubs, churches and societies,
from bridge groups to bowls clubs. Essentially, they are to be evangelists, spreading the good news
that dementia is far from an inescapable consequence of the passing years. Which is where the second
part of his campaign comes in: if you know you can prevent or reduce dementia risk, then how?
There are three strategies. None is hugely surprising.

- The first is to keep the blood vessels healthy, by stopping smoking, eating well and taking exercise.
Think of the brain like the heart, and adopt the same strategy to keep your brain healthy as you
would to avoid heart disease.

- The second is to protect the brain by cutting down on stress and drugs – “including those prescribed
by the medical profession”. “There are far too many people in their 70s, 80s,and 90s on eight or more
daily drugs that don’t work,” Gray says. As an aside, he says that the Department of Health admits
that a billion pounds a year is spent on drugs that do no good and often do harm: “About a quarter of
all admissions of older people are down to drug side effects.” Cutting down on booze is predictably
important. From one’s 50s on, he advises one alcohol-free day per week for every extra decade so
that, from 80, four days a week are booze-free. He also prescribes more sleep. “People think older
people need less sleep. They need more.”
- Then there’s attitude. “Being positive and socially engaged and having a sense of purpose and being
challenged. Challenge is very important. When people retire they often lose challenges in their lives.
It’s a matter of finding new ones. The best is to help other people, joining a group or getting on a com-
mittee of a voluntary organisation. Making a bigger contribution.” Not just because such activities are
fun, but because new challenges and skills encourage the neuroplasticity that we now know to be
vital.

The evidence for all this, he says, is relatively new. “We’ve greatly overemphasised theeffects of nor-
mal ageing on the brain,” he says, adding that when he was a medical student“we were told that from
age 20 the brain cells die off”. The reality is that, “while short-term memory slips, which is a ‘filing’
problem not dementia, you actually get better atmaking complex decisions”.

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