An ageing population brings with it certain health challenges, not least dementia.
With cases of dementia forecast to rise to over 1.5m in the UK by 2020, newspapers and various public bodies are focusing on what will become the defining disease of the baby boomer generation.
This week we have read a number of interesting studies and articles about increasing and decreasing the risk of dementia.
The Telegraph reported that middle-aged people should be told to cut out alcohol to reduce their risk of dementia as part of new health checks from the age of 40, under new NHS proposals.
These mid-life health MOTs will conclude that “there is no safe level of alcohol consumption” when it comes to their future dementia risk.
Those in middle age will be informed by their GPs that “…alcohol consumption, even within current guidelines, can increase the risk of dementia, disability and frailty…” They will be encouraged to reduce the amount they drink by as much as possible.
New research by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also found that healthy lifestyle changes made by middle-aged people can cut their risk of dementia in later life.
People in their 40s and 50s will be encouraged to stop smoking, become more physically active, drink less alcohol, eat healthily and maintain a target weight.
There is still no cure for dementia and no real prospect of a cure in the immediate future.
What these new guidelines offer is a way for people to reduce the risk of dementia in later life, or at least delay its onset.
We have argued before that a focus on health and fitness is one of the most important investments you can make for your retirement.
Being fit, healthy and having the ability to remain active in later life is the single best way of reducing the cost of retirement and avoiding the need for expensive care services.
Your future experience with dementia in later life is probably already written by the time you are in your 40s and 50s, but these simple lifestyle changes can make the world of difference.
As I commented to a couple of chaps in their 50s last week, we all face a choice as we approach retirement; stay fit and active, or become sedentary and accept the various challenges this lifestyle choice will present.
Which do you choose?
