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Agence France-Presse

With dementia cases set to soar, the World Health Organisation has presented its first guidelines for reducing the risk, including healthy eating, regular exercise and cutting out tobacco use.
The number of people living with dementia is expected to explode from approximately 50 million today to 152 million by 2050, the WHO said in its report on Tuesday.
“In the next 30 years, the number of people with dementia is expected to triple,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement, stressing that “we need to do everything we can to reduce our risk of dementia”.
The UN agency said that a healthy lifestyle appeared to help keep cognitive decline at bay.
The scientific evidence gathered to draw up the guidelines, Tedros said, “confirm what we have suspected for some time – that what is good for our heart is also good for our brain”.

Dementia is caused by a variety of brain illnesses that affect memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities.
Around five to eight per cent of people over the age of 60 are afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
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The disease inflicts a heavy economic burden on societies as a whole, with the cost of caring for people with dementia expected to rise from an estimated US$818 billion in 2015 to US$2 trillion by 2030, WHO said.
The largest increase in cases over the next three decades will be seen in low- and middle-income countries where overall population growth is the highest, WHO said, warning that many health care systems will face significant challenges.
WHO said there were a number of non modifiable risk factors for dementia such as age and family history.

But it stressed that “while age is the strongest known risk factor for cognitive decline, dementia is not a natural or inevitable consequence of ageing.”
At the same time, “we do know that there are some risk factors for dementia that we can actually modify”, Dr Neerja Chowdhary of WHO’s mental health and substance abuse division, told reporters in Geneva.
The agency said its new recommendations could provide the key to delaying or slowing cognitive decline or dementia.
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The guidelines point to a range of lifestyle choices that appear to heighten the risk, including physical inactivity, tobacco use, unhealthy diets and harmful alcohol use.
Medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity and depression are also associated with increased risk of developing dementia, WHO said.

The WHO guidelines recommend that adults adopt a balanced, Mediterranean-style diet, quit smoking, avoid drinking too much alcohol and watch their weight.
They also suggest that cognitive training can help stimulate the brain and ward off dementia.
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And they hint that an active social life could also be beneficial, pointing to studies showing that social disengagement can place older individuals at increased risk of cognitive impairment.
WHO acknowledged though that there is not enough scientific evidence that increased social activity actually reduces the risk of developing dementia.


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Wellness

WHO guide to reducing dementia risk says drink less, exercise, quit smoking and eat a healthy diet

The WHO has issued a guide to reducing risk of dementia, which is expected to treble in numbers in the next 30 years. Photo: Alamy

New World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Ethiopia's Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus holds a press conference on the day after his election by the World Health Assembly (WHA) on May 24, 2017 in Geneva. The first African to head the World Health Organization, Ethiopia's Tedros Adhanom, says he aims to replicate his success in turning around his country's healthcare system on the global stage. Photo : AFP

ARPT8M Elderly Chinese Man Jiujiang Jiangxi Province China. Image shot 2008. Exact date unknown.

FXE3NP Caprese. Caprese salad. Italian salad. Mediterranean salad. Italian cuisine. Mediterranean cuisine. Tomato mozzarella basil leav

Why garlic, ginger, turmeric, moringa, Indian ginseng are so good for us –five healing foods

Indian spices at a market in Goa, India. Photo: Alamy

Yellow turmeric on sale at Khari Baoli spice and dried foods market, Old Delhi, India[11MAY2019 FEATURE]CREDIT: ALAMY

Dec 05, 2012 - Thrissur, Kerala, India - Ashtavaidyan E.T. Ravi Mooss  shows a medicinal herb called Ashwagandha at the Aatma Ayurvedic Centre. Ayurveda meaning 'life knowledge' is a 5000 year old system of traditional medicine native to the Indian subcontinent. Ayurveda emphasizes re-establishing balance in the body through diet, lifestyle, exercise, and body cleansing, and on the health of the mind, body, and spirit. It emphasizes more on prevention of diseases rather than its cure. (Credit Image: © Subhash Sharma/ZUMAPRESS.com)[11MAY2019 FEATURE]CREDIT: ALAMY

Kavita Devgan endorses the use of garlic, and recommends Òone or two crushed garlic cloves with water on an empty stomach every day.Ó Garlic, she claims in her book, helps to prevent cancers, lowers cholesterol and protects the heart. [11MAY2019 FEATURE]

Garlic, Tripura, India[11MAY2019 FEATURE]CREDIT: ALAMY

Moringa leaf powder in a small bowl with a spoon against a ceramic tile background[11MAY2019 FEATURE]CREDIT: ALAMY

Ginger root and ginger powder over indian carpet[11MAY2019 FEATURE]CREDIT: ALAMY

Ayurvedic medicine uses herbs, spices and foods to treat ailments and improve health. Photo: Alamy

The 1,400 unseen guardian angels helping to protect Hong Kong’s dementia sufferers

Lau Chiu-kwong, owner of Tung Shing Medicine, is one of hundreds of people who have been trained by the Christian Family Service Centre. Photo: Dickson Lee

Exterior of Tung Shing Medicine, owned by Lau Chiu-kwong. Christian Family Service Centre trains up “Neighbour Angels” like Lau Chiu-kwong to help elderly people with dementia as part of building up a dementia-friendly community in Kowloon Bay. 10MAY19 SCMP / Dickson Lee

Light exercise, housework could help brain health and lower dementia risk, study says

Housework could keep your brain young and lower the risk of dementia, new research reveals. Photo: Alamy

M65TYF Modern mop for cleaning wooden floor from dust, cleaning service

BY11GJ A Fractal Image Entitled Brain Capacity

J673TY Fitbit

Senior asian houseworkPhoto: SHUTTERSTOCK[FEATURES 2019]

How dementia and ageing distort memories, creating false narratives that are hard to correct

Researchers are trying to figure out how to help older people with and without dementia remember more accurately. Photo: Alamy

GJ3BCF Doctor viewing CT scan result of brain on digital tablet for abnormalities

People with dementia are often said to forget recent events but remember the past, but its not always the case. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

The number of people with dementia is expected to triple to 150 million by 2050 and cost US$2 trillion
The WHO recommends a healthy lifestyle and a Mediterranean-style diet


The number of people with dementia is expected to triple to 150 million by 2050 and cost US$2 trillion. The WHO recommends a healthy lifestyle and a Mediterranean-style diet.


WHO guide to reducing dementia risk says drink less, exercise, quit smoking and eat a healthy diet

The number of people with dementia is expected to triple to 150 million by 2050 and cost US$2 trillion The WHO recommends a healthy lifestyle and a Mediterranean-style diet

The number of people with dementia is expected to triple to 150 million by 2050 and cost US$2 trillion

The WHO recommends a healthy lifestyle and a Mediterranean-style diet