Doctors’ Tips if You Have a Family History of Dementia

A household historical past of dementia is a danger issue for creating it your self, in accordance with the Mayo Clinic. With Alzheimer’s illness, as an example, even having an prolonged relative (like a cousin) with the illness is linked to a rise in your personal danger, in accordance with an April 2019 examine in Neurology¹.

But if dementia’s floating round in your gene pool, remember that is simply one danger issue. Even if you’ve a household historical past, it’s possible you’ll by no means have dementia signs. And then again, folks with zero household historical past might nonetheless develop the situation, per the Mayo Clinic.

Think of it this manner: Eating saturated fat will increase your danger for heart illness—however we’ve all heard tales of centenarians who habitually start their day with a number of slices of bacon for breakfast.

We know we won’t change our genes (not but, anyway), however many individuals need to know what they can do to decrease their danger of dementia if it runs of their household—we all know as a result of we polled our readers about their greatest health questions for our Real Talk Rx sequence.

Here’s what our panel of docs needed to say.

What ought to I do if dementia runs in my household?

“The most important thing anybody with a dementia risk can do is develop a relationship with a family medicine physician early on. A family medicine physician provides primary care and takes care of you throughout your whole lifespan. In some instances, we’re taking care of entire families. So I might know your parent or grandparent who has dementia and be able to give you really personalized advice.

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Once you have that relationship, let your doctor know about your family history. That way they can get into a more nuanced discussion with you about how to protect your brain health and when additional testing might be necessary.

General wellness habits are the best way to protect your brain. That includes setting a regular sleep schedule—even on the weekend, as tempting as it is to sleep in, try to set the same bedtime and same wake-up time every day. Make sure you’re getting a sufficient amount of sleep. That’s different from one person to another, but in general it’s six to eight hours.

In addition to the sleep, you want to make sure you’re eating nutritious foods, and eating a variety of foods, so you know you’re getting enough nutrients.

And you want to be physically active. That doesn’t mean you have to run a marathon, but maybe 30 minutes of walking outside a day. It’s not only good for your brain, your heart, and your bones, but it’s also good for your mental health.

Finally, you also want to make sure you keep your brain engaged. So you want to engage with people socially and maintain your social networks. And you may want to pick up a hobby that challenges you to think. So maybe that’s doing puzzles, woodworking … look for things that are in some way challenging your mental capabilities as well as your physical capabilities.”

“Aim to do something new all the time, no matter what age you are.” —Divesh Goel, MD

“The best thing you can do if you’re concerned about getting dementia is twofold. Number one, follow the food rules. Try to cut out high-sugar, highly processed foods [think: pastries, desserts, sweetened drinks] that are known to be inflammatory and can negatively affect the body and the brain.

The second thing that can be very effective to slow down or keep you from developing dementia is to actively work and engage your brain. And that is through either reading or regular interactions and conversations with friends and family members, learning skills, doing brain games—things that challenge you.”

“It really depends. If a lot of people in your family are below the age of 65 and they’re getting dementia, then I think you could talk to your primary care doctor, and they may like to send you to a specialist for some genetic testing. But it’s really reserved for a very small sliver of the population.

Good mental hygiene is what’s going to prevent dementia for most people if they’re healthy already, such as physical and mental exercise, which means doing new cognitive tasks. [Aim] to do something new all the time, no matter what age you are. That’s a challenge: I think we’re averse to new tasks, especially when we’re older, because we’re set in our ways.

Keep in mind, family members with dementia may have developed it for a whole slew of reasons, such as vascular risk factors, and that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll develop it too.”

The takeaway

There’s nothing you are able to do to vary your genetic make-up, however there are various different dementia danger components—comparable to your exercise degree, alcohol consumption, and social interactions, in accordance with the World Health Organization—which are extra inside your management.

Research on dementia remains to be evolving, so there’s no identified preventive tactic that may undoubtedly stop the illness, per Alzheimers.gov. But anybody could make sure life-style changes that look promising in the case of decreasing dementia danger, regardless of their household historical past. These changes embody the next, in accordance with Alzheimers.gov:

• Eat a wholesome diet
• Control hypertension and handle blood sugar ranges
• Maintain a wholesome weight
• Avoid smoking
• Reduce alcohol consumption
• Stay bodily and mentally lively
• Treat listening to loss
• Get sufficient sleep
• Keep up with friendships

In the top, everybody ought to take steps to guard their mind health, whether or not or not they’ve a household historical past of dementia. Many of the identical habits really helpful for general health and growing older nicely—comparable to consuming nutritious meals, being bodily lively, and safeguarding your sleep—are additionally good to your cognitive health.

Our consultants additionally advocate actively partaking your mind. That means prioritizing social interactions in addition to doing new issues that require your mind to stretch, like studying a new language or selecting up a new interest.

‌Confused about your health? Get solutions to extra widespread questions in our Real Talk Rx sequence.