Table of contents:

1. What is dementia?
2. Types of dementia
3. Is dementia treatable?
4. Breakthroughs
5. Risk factors for dementia
6. Eliminating risk factors leading to dementia
7. Increasing dementia risks
8. Obesity a cause of dementia
9. Loneliness a cause of dementia
10. Drinking alcohol causes dementia

What is dementia?

Dementia is an incurable disease that can disorganise a person's entire life and those around them; it affects behaviour, perception and experience. We can recognise it by problems with maintaining attention, with speech, with orientation, as well as with cognitive abilities.

Types of dementia

Dementia does not mean one type of disease. It is a collective term for several neurodegenerative diseases. We can include:

• Alzheimer's disease,
• vascular dementia,
• dementia with Lewy bodies,
• frontotemporal dementia
• mixed dementia.

The likelihood of developing dementia increases with age, but it is not a normal part of ageing.

Dementia: what it is, photo: panthermedia

Is dementia treatable?

Unfortunately, dementia is still incurable in the vast majority of cases. Doctors can therefore only focus on improving the patient's quality of life.

Sometimes it is possible to delay the progression of symptoms, however, there is no drug to stop the progression of the disease in the brain.

Scientists are still looking for a way out of the impasse. Since a cure cannot be found, the success will be to find a remedy that helps to prevent or delay the disease.

Breakthroughs

The landmark 2024 Lancet Commission report shows that 45% of cases of the disease can be prevented or effectively delayed. To do this, fourteen risk factors would need to be addressed, starting in childhood and continuing throughout life.

Dementia risk factors

A change from the 2000 report is seen in the form of two new risk factors.

Previously, factors identified were:

1. Low level of education,

2. Hearing impairment,

3. High blood pressure,

4. Smoking,

5. Obesity,

6. Depression,

7. Lack of physical activity,

8. Diabetes,

9. Excessive alcohol consumption,

10. Traumatic brain injury,

11. Air pollution,

12. Social isolation.

According to researchers, these factors are linked to 40% of all dementia cases.

The 2024 report added two more factors:

13. Eye health,

14. High cholesterol after the age of 40.

Estimates suggest that around 7% of these cases are related to high cholesterol, roughly from around the age of 40, while 2% are related to untreated visual impairment leading to vision loss.

Eliminating risk factors leading to dementia

The new report clearly shows that reducing the risk of dementia in the earliest years of a person's lifecan significantly reduce the number of people with dementia in later lifeby almost half.

According to David Merrill, MD, PhD, Doctor of Philosophy and a board-certified geriatric psychiatrist, "Taking the position that improved health across the lifespan leads to greater vitality as we age is one way to get serious about reducing the risk of dementia."

Experts say that reducing these risks should be addressed by governments in specific countries - as this will bring social and economic benefits, helping to slow the rise in dementia.

Governments should pay attention to this in the face of rapidly ageing populations. It is estimated that the number of people with dementia could reach 153 million by 2050 (there were 57 million in 2019).

Obesity and dementia, photo: panthermedia

Increasing risks associated with dementia

Researchers point out that trends in society need to be monitored and responded to, as some of the risks have increased over time. These include, for example:

• obesity,
• loneliness,
• drinking alcohol.

Obesity causes dementia

Obesity can be considered a disease of the 21st century. According to the World Obesity Federation, as many as 2.7 billion people will suffer from obesity by 2025. In our country, more than half of Poles are overweight, and one in five people is obese.

Obesity is a serious problem and is the cause of many diseases. It is also associated with an increased risk of dementia, which may be due to its association with diabetes, high blood pressure and inflammation.

Loneliness causes dementia

According to dementia researchers, the current world is conducive to dementia-related problems. Vivek H. Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States, describes the current situation in his country as an "epidemic of loneliness". And certainly his opinion does not only apply to the USA. This state of affairs is fostered by, among other things, social media and modern technology.

Loneliness and the development of dementia, photo: panthermedia

Dr Merill, mentioned earlier, called social isolation the 'new smoking'. According to him, everything that affects us is related to social ties. Social activities are of great importance in healthy brain ageing.

According to Dr Sommerland, on the other hand, lower levels of loneliness are associated with lower risk of dementia, which is probably due to the fact that contacts with others are a good way to exercise the brain, allowing us to build cognitive reserves as well as resilience to the pathology of dementia. Contact with others may also have the effect of promoting healthy behaviours (e.g. exercise and diet) and reducing stress.

Drinking alcohol causes dementia

Although alcohol consumption is nothing new, studies show that we are drinking more and more. In Poland, the consumption of alcoholic beverages has almost doubled over the past 20 years.

Drinking alcohol as a factor in promoting dementia, photo: panthermedia

Research also shows that any alcohol consumption carries a risk of developing dementia, regardless of how and how much we drink.

According to Dr Merrill, "It is now increasingly accepted that there is no >>healthy<< amount of alcohol intake for the brain or body, so it would be conceivable that the trajectory of dementia would improve with less alcohol consumption."

Thus, all indications are that simply eliminating the previously mentioned fourteen risk factors is enough to reduce the risk of dementia.