Can Adventure Prevent Dementia? and Outwitting Alzheimer’s
Dementia is currently the number one cause of death in Australia.
Worldwide, someone is diagnosed with dementia every three seconds.
Six million Americans and almost half a million Australians have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s (the most common type of dementia), and more than three times as many people are involved in their care (unpaid).
But it doesn’t have to be this way. More than half of all cases of dementia could be prevented if we became proactive about our brain health.
Moment by moment, our brain is changing in response to everything we do, think, feel and experience. This is known as neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity means that we are not passive victims of our genes, our past, or our diagnosis.
Research has confirmed that sleep, stress management, food, exercise, music, mental stimulation and social support are all medicine for our mind. Just because something doesn’t come in a pill, doesn’t mean it isn’t powerful. Unfortunately, many patients diagnosed with dementia are told to get their affairs in order because there is nothing that can be done. This is a needless tragedy because our daily choices can slow disease progression and even reverse dementia in its early stages.
For the brain to stay healthy, we need the right stimulation, motivation, nutrition, recovery and reward. Most importantly, we need to take charge of our thinking because our thoughts play an integral role in wiring our brains for longterm health.
Education is more powerful than medication and our decisions have more impact than our DNA.
This presentation outlines the steps we can take to defy dementia, outwit Alzheimer’s, and grow bolder rather than older.
Ageing is inevitable. Mental decline is not.
