Science Solitaire

[Science Solitaire] 12 ways NOT to lose yourself as you grow older

Maria Isabel Garcia

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

[Science Solitaire] 12 ways NOT to lose yourself as you grow older

Graphic by Raffy de Guzman

'Years of studies have now led to a scientific consensus that you can change the course of your journey to being older'

We all surrender a bit of our abilities and capacities as we grow older, but it is a completely different story to lose ourselves altogether. This is what we see in people, including those whom we know and love, as they grow older and have dementia. But against popular belief, even if dementia is known to plague older people, it is not a sure thing that awaits you in old age. 

The proof is that there are older people who do not have dementia. In fact, high income countries who have bigger aging populations have declining proportions of older people with dementia. Years of studies have now led to a scientific consensus that you can change the course of your journey to being older. These are like paths in a map that, if you take, will make you much less likely to end up on a shore where the waves start to erode your memories, and thus, your own sense of self.

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The Lancet Commission updated the modifiable risk factors from 9 in 2017 to 12 last year. I call it the “Dementia dozen deal,” because as indicated, they are “modifiable,” i.e., to an extent, they are within your own “Houston control” to avoid or stop.

But they also come as a package. This means you cannot score by avoiding some and surrendering to others and calling it “quits.” So if you can make a map of your life of the things you can control, especially if you are still in early adulthood but also even later in life, put up your own “Do NOT Enter” signs at the start of these “Dementia Dozen Deal” roads that most likely will lead to your mind’s Neverland.

  1. Less education. This proves that “education” is ALSO a health issue.  This is why childhood education – early up to secondary education – should be provided for all.
  2. Hypertension. The recommendation is to keep your blood pressure at a maximum systolic (the first number in your blood pressure reading) of “130.”
  3. Hearing impairment. Remedies should be had to improve hearing if it is a disability or as one grows older.
  4. Smoking. Quit. Just quit. No benefit is known to come from smoking.
  5. Obesity. The standard measure of obesity is if your Body Mass Index is 30 or higher. You can compute your BMI by dividing your weight in kilograms with height in meters squared (“squared” means you divide your height in meters by itself).
  6. Depression. This can be the cause or result of the other risk factors in this dozen, but studies like this one have shown that depression indeed poses a high risk for dementia.
  7. Physical inactivity. We develop many habits in life. Exercise (aerobic, strength, dance, and stretch exercises) should be daily habit and even if we start in mid-life, this could still have a great impact on our mental health.
  8. Diabetes. This is also linked to other things in this “dozen” affecting our metabolism, circulation, cardio, and blood pressure. Diabetes is like a dandelion with all its blown spores affecting our bodily functions, so this would have to be avoided or controlled to lessen your risk of dementia.
  9. Low social contact. We are fundamentally relational creatures and our brains are wired for this; so this is vital to who we are, for our entire lives, to keep us from losing who we are. 
  10. Excessive alcohol consumption. According to the CDC, this means four or more drinks for women or five or more for men on a single occasion. 
  11. Traumatic brain injury. These are damages to the brain caused by blows to the head. This is also why health experts are warning against the repeated brain injury risks posed by many kinds of contact sports.
  12. Air pollution. Related studies have already shown that air pollution reduces intelligence. This is new and shows a direct linkage between environmental factors and mental health.
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These dozen risks altogether, they have found, when avoided or managed can dramatically cut your dementia risk. How much would you kick yourself (or think of your loved ones) if you had the chance to cut your losses but still chose not to?

One of the things that adds to our anxieties is how much time has passed since the pandemic started. We are now more conscious of the things we would have wanted to do in those unrepeatable days and nights of our individual lifetimes. Now, we are inspired, more than ever, to be “present” in our lives for as long as we can. How will we do that if we lived lives where we led our brains to their own surrender? – Rappler.com

Maria Isabel Garcia is a science writer. She has written two books, “Science Solitaire” and “Twenty One Grams of Spirit and Seven Ounces of Desire.” You can reach her at sciencesolitaire@gmail.com.

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