Page 21 - Leisure Living Spring 2016

A Little Good News
About Vascular Dementia
By Robin Small, Otterbein North Shore Senior Lifestyle Community
Why exercise? Why eat more vegetables? Why learn something new? There is one answer to each of these questions: to prevent or delay the onset of vascular dementia.
According to The Framingham Heart Study, a long term study of over 5,200 participants which began in 1948, there is promise in the idea that making heart healthy choices may delay or decrease the chances of developing vascu- lar dementia. Vascular dementia is the second most common form of memory loss, behind Alzheimer’s. Vascular dementia is caused by damage to the blood vessels that carry oxygen to the brain. “It’s very good news,” said Dallas Anderson, an epidemiologist with the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, which funded the study. “We’re seeing one generation after another where the risk is going down.”
Interestingly, the healthy choices produced the best results among those who have at least a high school education and those who continue to participate in lifelong learning. Better educated people are more likely to position themselves in jobs that offer access to health insurance which allows for better access to health care. Better care for stroke and heart attack patients also helps to reduce the incidence of vascular dementia. Those who choose to learn something new at all stages of their lives seem to make better choices for their overall health.
There is a saying that states that, when it comes to health history, that you “can’t fight your fam- ily tree,” but studies are showing that there are behavioral changes that are effective in fighting the onset of dementia. What are some healthy choices that you can make? One major change
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