A new report presented by the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care concludes that more than 1/3 of all dementia cases (including Alzheimer’s disease) can be traced to specific sociological, psychological, and physical factors. Since many of these factors are considered to be preventable, the scientific community is celebrating this development as a significant stride forward in the battle against dementia. Some of the primary factors that appear to be an early sign of potential memory loss include low levels of completed education, obesity, smoking, air pollution, and hearing loss.
This study comes at a time when many of the world’s countries are bracing for an exponential growth to their senior citizen populations. If the results of this study lead to widespread change among the general public, the reduction in the number of individuals suffering from dementia could lead to potential economic growth, continued productivity, and a more hopeful population of people heading toward old age. Read more about this report, as well as other developments in the field of memory loss, in this recent article from the Los Angeles Times.
I feel this story oversimplifies things although I believe the message is valuable. The study basically finds that 35% of what they feel are significant contributing factors can be influenced, but they are small fragments such as obesity (1% influence), or hypertension (2%). I have a parent in mid to late stages of Alzheimer’s who at most is effected by 9% of those factors. These all came late in life and are in large part a reaction to the disease (depression, social inactivity and isolation). While all three factors increase the growth and intensity of the disease, they are not responsible for the initial development. To suggest otherwise would make you a patient!
Essentially you are looking at 25% factors that influence the disease; is there any surprise that includes obesity, diabetes, smoking, and hypertension? I think the interesting factors are education (8% factor) and hearing loss (9% factor). We are always telling people to lose weight and stop smoking, but what if they don’t understand why or can’t hear us? People are embarrassed to admit a hearing problem but maybe this is point we should be hammering in while they still can hear.