Dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, is one of the top ten causes of death in the United States. It still doesn’t have a cure, but you can take many steps to reduce your risks. Some strategies are less heard of, but their science is sensible.
1. Play Some Music
To cut your risk of dementia, take piano lessons. Many studies show music has a staggering effect on the brain.
For example, a 2011 Finnish research says it causes the body’s command center to light up like a Christmas tree. It activates many regions responsible for motor skills, memories, and creativity.
Learning to play musical instruments can also improve implicit or procedural memory. These are already deeply embedded into your brain you can already do them autopilot.
For people prone to dementia, this is essential since procedural memories are resistant to cognitive decline or impairment.
2. Get Social
Despite the cliche, no one is an island, and being surrounded by friends and family can help improve your well-being. That includes decreasing your risk of dementia.
In a 2019 longitudinal study by the University College of London,researchers found a strong correlationbetween social relationships and the risk of the disorder among older adults. Those who met up with friends almost every day reduced their dementia odds by 12% compared to those who saw one or two pals every few months.
A social connection is also one foundation of Blue Zones. These are regions of the world whose residents enjoy longer lives.
The question is why. The UK researchers believed that social relationships could also improve cognitive skills, such as memory, language, and communication.
3. Avoid Air Pollution
Breathing dirty air can be a double-whammy for people already prone to or diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Air pollution increases the risk of not only CVD but also dementia.
The particulate matter (PM 2.5) could raise blood pressure or, worse, cause the blood vessels to rupture. It could also boost low-grade chronic inflammation that further hurts the cardiac muscle.
These elevations in blood pressure and other cardiac changes can harm the brain. , you are now susceptible to dementia. The risks could be about 50% for everyIQR (interquartilerange) difference for PM 2.5.
4. Think Happy Thoughts
Getting worried is normal and healthy-doing it excessively isn’t. Repetitive negative thoughts (RTN) could lead to dementia later, according to a 2020 research.
Scientists already know an association between depression and anxiety and dementia. However, in this new study, the researchers revealed thatRTN could already be a risk factor. It might be damaging to middle-aged adults.
The researchers believe it’s the impact of chronic worry that can raise the risk. When you’re anxious, your stress levels are also high all the time.
It then stimulates the body to continuously produce stress hormones like cortisol that increase both blood pressure and heart rate.This chronic stress could also result in chronic inflammation, which is a risk factor for CVD.
While nothing ever guarantees you will never get dementia, you can control plenty of risk factors. But there’s no better time to make changes than today.
