Dementia is a devastating disease that takes so much from people, including loved ones. Make sure you’re partnered up with the best person to help stop this aggressive condition from attacking your brain cells.
Researchers from the University of Michigan, and Harvard, have concluded that people who have optimistic partners are less likely to get dementia.
Published in the Journal of Personality, researchers have written that optimistic partners may encourage a more healthy lifestyle.
Those who look on the sunnier side of life may promote exercising together and sharing healthier meals.
“We found that when you look at the risk factors for what predicts things like Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, a lot of them are things like living a healthy lifestyle.
“Maintaining a healthy weight and physical activity are large predictors, there are some physiological markers as well.
“It looks like people who are married to optimists tend to score better on all of those metrics.”
Although risk factors such as age and a genetic predisposition to developing dementia can’t be helped, there are other risk factors which could be avoided.
The charity proclaims there is strong evidence between heart health and brain health.
It adds: “This connection makes sense, because the brain is nourished by one of the body’s richest networks of blood vessels, and the heart is responsible for pumping blood through these blood vessels to the brain.”
Conditions that damage the heart and blood vessels, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, all increase a person’s risk of dementia.
The charity encourages people to eat a healthy diet, stay socially active, avoid tobacco and excess alcohol, and exercise the body and mind to minimise the risk of dementia.
