6. Prevent Head Injuries
Injuring your head causes short-term dementia-like symptoms like confusion, memory loss, and changes in speech, vision, and personality. Some head injuries can actually increase your risk of developing dementia later in life, especially if it causes 30 minutes to 24 hours of unconsciousness after initial injury (14).
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina examined 548 veterans with a head injury and 1228 without head injury to yield these results (15).
Protect your head by wearing a helmet while cycling, skating, skiing, or water sports to reduce your risk of dementia.
7. Control Your Alcohol Intake
Alcohol-related brain damage, caused by years of alcohol abuse can contribute towards Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and alcoholic dementia, the last of which are not truly classified as “dementia”. That’s because both conditions are reversible if you gradually reduce your alcohol intake. Your risk of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia also go up with excessive drinking (16).
According to the Alzheimer’s Society recommends drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol spread over 3 days a week. To put it in perspective, 125ml of wine is roughly 1.5 units while 1 pint of beer or cider is 2-2.5 units (17).
8. Track Your Numbers
Since diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity are all risk factors, it’s important to monitor your weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. If you don’t know where to begin, ask your doctor for tailored advice on your daily calorie, exercise, and diet goals.
9. Increase your Social interaction
