Life style choices

There is no known reason why some people develop dementia. Often the people who do in fact develop dementia are people we do not expect it to happen to and of course the reverse is also true.

There are many articles written to help people try to keep their brains active in later life. It is important to realise this is no silver bullet as many people who do 'all the right things' will still develop dementia.

However we could do a lot more to educate people during their younger years.

Contact sports are played without any thought to the damage that is being done to the brain. Here people played on while suffering from concussion. It was considered that you did not leave the field unless you had to be carried off. Now people who are knocked out need medical clearance before they can play again. A good start but I do think people need to be aware of the dangers that may occur in later life.

Most adults have little understanding about dementia unless they have been directly involved in the care of someone with it. I personally had very little knowledge about it before I fell in the deep end! I have read widely and researched to find out as much as I can but boy there is so much to learn and no answers!

People who have the answers usually have little understanding.

Alcohol is part of our life style. Younger people often drink until they pass out. People who drink to excess often get involved in physical or verbal altercations. Often they are very aggressive but on sobering up have no memory of their behaviour or what they have said, often very hurtful and erroneous comments. Domestic violence is often associated with alcohol. Alcohol related dementia makes up a significant number of those people with dementia. The majority of younger people have no knowledge that this is a possible outcome of this behaviour. Teaching about this should be part of our Health curriculum.