Prevention Strategies

Question 1

Dementia risk factors we can’t control:

Answer 1

• age
• genetics
• gender (women more likely to develop AD, men more likely to develop VD)

Question 2

Dementia risk factors we can control:

Answer 2

• head protection
• general health
• nutrition
• healthy mind
• social network
• general level of activity
• brain exercise

Question 3

If you’ve had a head injury you have a ___ times higher risk of AD. If it was a severe head injury you have a ___ times higher risk of AD.

Answer 3

1. 8

4. 5

Question 4

What things can you do for your general health to reduce the risk of dementia?

Answer 4

• regular checkups of thyroid, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar
• stop smoking
• keep weight down
• exercise (cardiovascular and strength)

Question 5

What elements of nutrition may be important to prevent dementia?

Answer 5

• Balanced diet
• vit C, E, B12 (fruit, nuts and eggs respectively)
• Antioxidants (green tea)
• Reduce saturated fat and transfat
• Folate (eggs, cereal)
• Beta Carotene (carrots)

Question 6

How can you maintain a healthy mind to reduce dementia?

Answer 6

• manage stress
• manage anxiety
• manage depression
• manage your sleep
• stress and anxiety reduce the hippocampal volume but this is reversible

Question 7

What types of brain exercises can we do to reduce dementia?

Answer 7

Doesn’t matter what you do if the activity is complex, frequent, varied, interesting