Lifestyle changes can reduce risks of dementia

Webinar also calls for integration of modern, traditional medicines

There are a number of modifiable factors such as diabetes, midlife obesity, hypertension, sedentary lifestyle and smoking that increase the risk of dementia, said Madhav Thambisetty, unit head, Clinical & Translational Neuroscience Section, Johns Hopkins University, here on Saturday.

Addressing a webinar moderated by Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy, behavioural neurologist and neuropsychiatrist and founder of Buddhi Clinic, on the topic ‘Alzheimer’s dementia: from ayurveda to precision medicine,’ Dr. Thambisetty said interventions to reduce these risk factors could help in preventing dementia. He said that while dementia was the broader term that referred to difficulties with memory, thinking and problem solving that affected a person’s day-to-day functioning, Alzheimer’s was the most common cause of dementia.

Suhas Kumar Shettu, professor and head, Department of Manovijnana Avum Manasa Roga, Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Ayurveda and Hospital, said ayurveda offered different options depending on patient’s stage of dementia.