Once you are past 90 I don’t think there is much you can do to stop dementia. The most frightening thing about it would be that the legal system treats anyone who has lost mental capacity as having less rights than a criminal. There are insufficient safeguards in place. You are at the mercy of others. Others who do not understand your needs because you cannot express yourself. I wish I could change this but I am expecting it to get worse in the next 20 years. There are insufficient resources to cope. perhaps they will find a cure instead.
Welcome Angela
My Mum developed Alzheimers at 92. She never smoked or drank in her life. Everything she ate was cooked from scratch and they grew all their own veg, salad and fruit. She rode her bike into her 70s and got plenty of exercise in their large garden.
My Aunt died a few days before Christmas aged 85 and she was a vegetarian, non smoking and very occasional drinker who also walked miles most days. She developed Alzheimers last year.
I used to take my Mum to a dementia support group and got to know a lot of people with dementia and their families. I heard the same stories over and over again about healthy eating, exercise etc.
I guess we should all try to look after ourselves but I don’t believe there is much we can do to avoid getting dementia sadly.
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Sorry to hear about your Mum Rose…
I just wonder why dementia has become so common these days. Could it be that it wasn’t diagnosed in the past? Or because people didn’t live long enough for it to develop?
I have read that younger people suffer with dementia also.
As you know I’ve been recently been reading about the monarchy since 1066 and not once has dementia being mentioned throughout history. Or cancer come to that. Iknow it wasn’t called that in those days.
Yes, that’s headed up by Patrick Holford and is a fantastic resource. I definitely recommend it. He was speaking at the conference I was at yesterday, and talking about exactly that - the high homocysteine and supplementation with B vitamins and omega-3 (DHA). You can get tested for homocysteine - a level of 11 or less is good.
Maybe loss of cognitive coherence stops day counting?
In a way I think giving it a label has made it worse
It used to be accepted that old people got a bit odd. I can remember my granny saying people were going a bit “funny” but it didn’t get called alzeimers or dementia and was more or less seen as par for the course
And people did tend to die younger before they got to the cancer and dementia stage
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Early onset dementia is terrible OGF. A lad I went to school with was diagnosed in his 50s but you can be even younger than that. Very sad.
I think years ago people with dementia or senility were often kept indoors or packed off to mental hospitals. I am just grateful that my Mum did not get diagnosed until she was 92 because we had some really good times, holidays, laughs etc.
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I’m glad you’ve got some happy memories, me too. Dad was still the same person a lot of the time and we used to enjoy the good times and be very gentle in the difficult times. It’s not easy but it doesn’t mean the end of your relationships
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No.,.,
I cant remember 
God forbid .
Despite all efforts dementia is still so very poorly understood by the average person who deals with a sufferer. So I would not be afraid of dementia but afraid of other people and their misconceptions and lack of kindness/sympathy. Particularly people who think someone with dementia is being awkward, quarrelsome or stupid.
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I’m aware of it of course, my husband died with it. However, I don’t worry about it because I have the rest of my life to live and if I do get it there is nothing I can do about it, so why worry? I agree with @AnnieS in that it is often misunderstood by others - even some in the medical profession. On many occasions I have had to remind people that my husband’s behaviour was due to the condition, especially when he was forever repeating the same words or the words that others said to him; or he was getting angry at what appeared to be nothing; plus many other instances of unpredictable behaviour.
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Yes. I do worry about it - on my mum’s side of the family, there is no dementia but on my dad’s side, they all passed away young. So, it’s an unknown.
I do tend to forget things now and then. Especially my shopping list. I’m always forgetting something. It’s very annoying.
There is actually plenty to do to delay or avoid the onset of dementia. Start by reading “Brain Power 101” by Richard Isaacson MD.
Just a thought,
Ken
I would but then I forget I was .
What’s this thread about?
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