Prevention and delayed onset of dementia

Abstract

As many as 50 million people across the world have dementia, an umbrella term for a series of neurodegenerative conditions that cause memory loss. These conditions can become severe enough to impair a person's ability to continue their normal daily activities. Some of risk factors of dementia are lifestyle–related and, as such, modifiable. The World Health Organization published a new set of guidelines that seek to advise governments, policymakers, and healthcare providers on how best to tackle dementia prevention. These possible factors are : low levels of physical activity, smoking, a poor diet, alcohol misuse, insufficient or impaired cognitive reserve, lack of social activity, unhealthy weight gain, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, depression, and hearing loss. The existence of potentially modifiable risk factors means that prevention of dementia is possible through a public health approach, including the implementation of key interventions that delay or slow cognitive decline or dementia.