The Week of Care this year pays a lot of attention to “brain health”. Regular exercise, healthy eating and enough sleep are very important to keep your brain healthy for a long time. But other, less obvious factors also play a role, says Sebastiaan Engelborghs, professor of neurology, in ‘De Morgen’. “The surprising thing is that a lot of risk factors for cardiovascular disease are also a risk for dementia. Think of high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, … Intervening on this is very important, that is 2 for the price of 1.”
Engelborghs certainly does not want to say that you can control dementia completely, because genetics also play a role. “But what is new compared to the past is that by adopting lifestyle measures – from middle age – you can reduce your dementia risk. That is new and that is encouraging. There are indications that we could prevent the number of dementias worldwide or the delay the onset of symptoms.”
Staying intellectually active and maintaining social contacts in old age is also important, says Engelborghs. Listen above for more tips.
–
