Although there is no treatment for dementia, the World Health Organisation says there is lots that can be done to slow down or delay the onset and progression of the disease that affects 50 million people worldwide.
Guidelines just released by WHO, outline some recommendations to reduce the risk of dementia, including regular physical exercise, drinking less alcohol, maintaining healthy blood pressure, not taking dietary supplements, such as vitamins B and E, and eating a healthy diet, in particular they say a Mediterranean diet is best.
UK Dementia Research Institute program lead, and deputy director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, professor Tara Spires-Jones says "while some people are unlucky and inherit a combination of genes that makes it highly likely they will develop dementia, many people have the opportunity to substantially reduce their risk by living a healthy lifestyle,"