Lifestyle and dementia
The current lifestyle which is centric to the automated world that we are living in is one of the main reasons which lead to dementia. It can be prevented by a cognitively active and dynamic lifestyle. The basic symptoms of dementia are forgetfulness, tapered social skills that interfere with our daily functioning. The research studies have shown that the lack of physical exercise will directly lead to the risk of dementia among the elderly population. There are some more risk factors like age, family history, alcohol consumption, smoking, cholesterol, diabetes, and mild cognitive impairment that are associated with dementia. A combination of genetic and environmental factors usually develops dementia.
The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (WHO, 1986) provides guidelines for a global social action aimed at promoting citizens’ psychophysical well-being. According to the Charter, health promotion initiatives should foster individuals’ active control over their health conditions, and personal engagement in improving them. The elderly population is large in general and growing due to the advancement of the health care system. These people are faced with numerous physical, psychological, and social role changes that challenge their sense of self and capacity to live happily. Many people experience loneliness, dementia, and depression in old age, either because of living alone or due to lack of close family ties and reduced connections with their culture of origin.
Experts view that depression in later life has profound consequences including increased health cost, distress on caregivers, amplified disabilities, and increased morbidity and suicide. The loss of a spouse takes a heavy toll on health and is one of the primary causes of depression. Being left alone often prevents many older persons from enjoying life. The use of multiple medicines, retirements, fiscal crisis, fear of death, bereavement, etc. worsen the situation.
Experts believe that genetic factors and changeable lifestyle factors are the major cause of dementia. They have found certain early symptoms like forgetfulness, losing track of the time, becoming lost in familiar places. Middle stage symptoms are like forgetfulness of the recent activities and names of the people, confusion while at home, difficulty with communication. And the last stage symptoms are like unaware of the time and place, having difficulty reorganization of friends and relatives, difficulty walking and behavior changes which includes aggression.
Regular physical activities such as exercising, walking, gardening, etc may reduce the occurrence of dementia. The dementia number may rise to 78 million and 139 million in 2030 and 2050, according to the World Health Organization. A study on Life satisfaction and Emotional Well-being among aged, living in activity-oriented and non-activity-oriented old-age homes revealed that there is a significant difference in the Level of Life Satisfaction among elderly residents who live in activity-oriented and non-activity-oriented old age homes. This indicates the importance of activity-oriented old age homes.[1]
The most common dementia type is Alzheimer’s disease, and another common type is vascular dementia. Food habits and their nutritional value also decide the health condition. Junk foods or unhealthy foods will lead to increased cholesterol levels, diabetes, etc. Improved food habits lead to improved health. The main goal of this treatment is to improve the quality of life which is not just the body but also the mind of the person. The physical and mental engagement activities are essential and are strong predictors for successful aging. Leisure activities, arts and crafts, volunteering, sports, hobbies, attending cultural events, and reading are important predictors of Life satisfaction
Though hard, Dementia can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle of successful aging. Some of the preventive measures are regular exercise, good sleep patterns, nurturing interest in art and crafts, engaging in hobbies of interest. RESTART, an Intervention program specially designed to address cognitive decline aims at developing healthy lifestyles and habits for successful aging.
References:
Sindhuja C.V & Vijayshree Ravi (2021). To assess Life satisfaction and Emotional Well-being among elderly living in activity-oriented and non-activity-oriented old age homes. Indian Journal of Gerontology. Vol. 3 5 No. 4, 2021 ISSN -0971-4189.
Goldman, J. G., & Holden, S. (2014). Treatment of psychosis and dementia in Parkinson’s disease. Current treatment options in neurology, 16(3), 1-18.