How to prevent dementia

There are many causes of dementia, and genetics is one of them. If a family member has dementia, pay close attention to see if you or other family members show any symptoms as you near the age of 65, since it’s important to catch the disease as early as possible. Research has shown that women have a higher chance of dementia. Men, however, could have a higher chance of acquired vascular dementia due to their lifestyle. In addition, if you have had any kind of brain injury, live with depression, or have problems socialising, you need to pay close attention and identify the problem as soon as possible.

Kenny Chui, Project Manager and Senior Training Consultant at the Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing has three main recommendations to help prevent dementia:

• Keep learning new things – the average person’s brain development will slow down after the age of 40, so it’s important to stimulate the brain to reduce the speed at which it atrophies. An inert lifestyle doesn’t do much to stimulate the brain, so the elderly and retirees would do best to access new things, especially languages and numbers. Having other interests, such as photography, painting and music are all effective ways to protect the health of your brain.
• Food – About 30% of dementia results from vascular degeneration, including stroke, diabetes with high blood pressure, heart disease and cardiovascular problems, so protecting the blood vessels is a very important part of prevention. Try a Mediterranean diet; eat more foods high in anti-oxidants; and use olive oil and salmon with omega 3.
• Aerobic exercise – engage in aerobic activity 30 minutes each day. Choose activities that aren’t too strenuous, such as walking up a slope, fast walking, swimming (or walking in water), tai chi and qigong, etc. The aim is to enhance cardiopulmonary function so that more oxygen can be absorbed and used to activate the brain.

In addition to the methods above, it’s commonly said that playing mahjong can prevent dementia, but is this truly an effective method? And are there any other games that people living with dementia can play to improve the brain’s cognitive function? Let’s see what Kenny Chui has to say.