Reducing your risk of dementia
It is not clear what causes dementia. It is likely that a mixture of our age, genes,
environment and lifestyle contribute to whether we develop dementia.
Dementia is not a normal part of getting older, but the risk of developing dementia does
increase with age.
There is currently no way we can completely prevent dementia, but research suggests
there may be some simple things we can all do that might help lower our risk of
developing dementia.
A healthy lifestyle may reduce the risk of developing dementia
Did you know that living a healthy lifestyle may reduce your risk of developing dementia
in the same way that it can reduce your risk of having heart disease or a stroke? By
keeping your body healthy – especially your heart – you can help to keep your brain
healthy too. This is because some forms of dementia are caused by a reduction of bloodflow to the brain. Here are some useful tips:
Eat healthily
To eat healthily, a low-fat, high-fibre diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is
recommended.
This means:
Eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables
The World Health Organisation recommends eating a variety of five different portions of
fruit and vegetables per day. This can be anything from fresh, frozen, dried, and even
canned fruit and vegetables (but make sure canned ones are in natural juices with no
added sugars!).
For more information you can visit the NHS 5-a-day website
You can also find 5-A-DAY Recipes
Cut down the amount of salt you use
Too much salt can increase your blood pressure which can increase your risk of developing
dementia and other serious illnesses such as heart disease and stroke. It is recommended
to have less than 6g salt per day – which is approximately one teaspoon of salt a day.
For more information you can visit the NHS salt website
Avoid foods that are high in saturated fats and sugars
Saturated fat can cause narrowing of the arteries and increase the risk of vascular
dementia. Saturated fat is found in butter, cakes, hard cheese, lard, fatty cuts of meat,
biscuits etc.
You can find some more advice and information if you visit the NHS Website: Eat less
Saturated Fat
The ‘eat well plate’ below shows you how much you should eat from each food group to
achieve a healthy, balanced diet:
Download the Eat Well Plate (jpeg, 100kb)
For more information on food and diet visit the NHS Good Food website
For information on healthy eating and services to help you to lose weight in Warwickshire
please visit the healthy eating in Warwickshire website
Information on healthy lifestyle services in Coventry:
Coventry Healthy Lifestyles Service offers a free lifestyle health check which includes
questions about you and your health. The service will check your emotional wellbeing,
blood pressure, cholesterol, and body mass index.
Following an initial lifestyle review, you may wish to access a free six week programme
where you will be supported to make behaviour changes to your lifestyle, and improve
your health. We can help you make small but significant steps to promote your wellbeing,
reduce alcohol consumption, stop smoking, and improve your diet and exercise levels.
To book an appointment for a lifestyle check: Call: 0300 200 0011
Visit: Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust
One Body One Life (OBOL) is a community based weight management programme for
families and individuals in Coventry who want to lead a healthier lifestyle. For more
information please visit Coventry’s Healthy Living website
Limit your alcohol intake
It is very important to drink alcohol in moderation. Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
can increase your cholesterol levels and raise your blood pressure which can then increase
your risk of developing dementia.
The recommendations for alcohol consumption are:

Men should not regularly drink more than 3 to 4 units a day.

Women should not regularly drink more than 2 to 3 units a day.
For more information you can be found on these websites:

NHS Direct: Effects of alcohol

DrinkAware: The Facts
To give you an idea of ‘a unit’ of alcohol, see the image below:
For information on alcohol support and services in Warwickshire please visit the alcohol
in Warwickshire Webpage. If you are concerned about your own or someone else’s
drinking, please visit the Recovery Partnership website. The Recovery Partnership is a
treatment service for residents across Coventry and Warwickshire with a drug or alcohol
problem.
For information on alcohol support and services in Coventry please visit the Coventry
drugs, alcohol and substance misuse Pages
Information on healthy lifestyle services in Coventry, which includes support to reduce
alcohol consumption: Coventry Healthy Lifestyles Service offers a free lifestyle health
check which includes questions about you and your health. The service will check your
emotional wellbeing, blood pressure, cholesterol, and body mass index.
Following an initial lifestyle review, you may wish to access a free six week programme
where you will be supported to make behaviour changes to your lifestyle, and improve
your health. We can help you make small but significant steps to promote your wellbeing,
reduce alcohol consumption, stop smoking, and improve your diet and exercise levels.
To book an appointment for a lifestyle check: Call: 0300 200 0011
or visit: http://www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/services/primary-care/healthylifestyles/Pages/default.aspx
Get active and stay active
Being physically active will help your heart and blood circulatory system to work more
efficiently. It will also help to lower your cholesterol and keep your blood pressure at a
healthy level, which may decrease your risk of developing dementia.
Over a week, adults should aim to do at least 150 minutes (2½ hours) of moderate
intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more. For example you could do 30 minutes of
activity at least 5 days a week.
For more information, click here:
http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/fitness/pages/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults.aspx
You can try walking- it’s free, easy and you can start at your own pace!
Here is some advice before you get started:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/getting-started-guides/Pages/getting-started-walking.aspx
The following website gives more information on physical activity opportunities in
Warwickshire:
http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/keepingactive
The following website gives more information on physical activity opportunities in
Coventry:
http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/10096/healthy_living/426/be_active_be_healthy_be_ha
ppy
The following Walk Finder website gives details of health walk schemes across the West
Midlands region – and includes Coventry and Warwickshire:
http://www.walkingforhealth.org.uk/walkfinder/West%20Midlands
If you want to try other activities such as swimming, the gym, table tennis, cycling or
even dancing, have a look at the following website!
http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/Fitness/Pages/Fitnesshome.aspx
Keep a healthy weight
Being overweight can increase your blood pressure, which in turn may increase your risk
of developing dementia. This risk further increases if you are obese.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a good way to check if you’re a healthy weight.
http://www.nhs.uk/tools/pages/healthyweightcalculator.aspx
A BMI between 18.5 – 24.9 is within a healthy range.
If you are overweight, try to make small but long-lasting changes to your lifestyle.
Changing your lifestyle so that you eat fewer calories and increase your physical activity is
the best approach. For more information on BMI and advice and information on how to
achieve a healthy weight, please visit:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/BodyMassIndex.aspx
Many GP practices have weight management schemes that can help you lose weight if
needed.
For information on schemes to help you to lose weight in Warwickshire please click the
link below:
http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/healthyeating
Information on weight management services in Coventry:
Coventry Healthy Lifestyles Service offers a Counterweight 12 week weight management
programme, providing one-to-one support for people who want to lose weight.
Counterweight will support you to achieve a weight loss of between 5% and 10% which
can make a real difference to your overall health.
To book an appointment: Call: 0300 200 0011
or visit: http://www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/services/primary-care/healthylifestyles/Pages/default.aspx
It is highly recommended that you attend the free health checks that may be offered by
your General Practice. This may include Free NHS Health Checks for people aged 40-74,
medication reviews and annual checks.
For more information on Free NHS Health Checks for people aged 40-74 please visit:
http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/NHSHealthCheck/Pages/NHSHealthCheck.aspx
Stop smoking (if you smoke)
Smoking has an extremely harmful effect on the heart, lungs and blood system (including
the blood system in the brain).
Smokers are twice as likely to develop some forms of dementia (including Vascular
Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease) as non-smokers. Smoking not only increases your risk
of dementia but is also responsible for 1 in 5 deaths of people above the age of 35 in
England.
Stopping smoking is not easy. The NHS can offer you free one-to-one support along with
stop smoking medicines, which are available for the cost of a prescription. Some recent
studies discovered that you are four times more likely to quit smoking if you do it through
the NHS.
For support to stop smoking in Warwickshire:
Call: 0800 085 2917
Text free: “LIFE” to 80800
Visit: Smoke free Warwickshire
For support to stop smoking in Coventry:
Call: 0300 200 0011
Visit: The Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust – Healthy Lifestyles
For more information about stopping smoking, visit: NHS: Smokefree
NHS Choices: Stop smoking treatments
For general information on reducing your risk of dementia, please visit: NHS Choices:
Can dementia be prevented?
Exercise your brain
By leading a brain-healthy lifestyle, you may be able to prevent or slow down
development of dementia. Some scholars refer to the six pillars of a healthy brain, these
are: regular exercise, healthy diet, mental stimulation, quality sleep, stress management
and an active social life. Learning a new language, playing Scrabble or solving puzzle
could help prevent cognitive decline of your brain.
E-learning: Dementia Awareness
This Dementia Awareness E-Learning Module is free and relevant to the general
public and to anyone working in public environment such as shops, transport and banks.
Find out more
Find Dementia services near you:
https://directory.warwickshire.gov.uk/