When you are at a younger age, the actions you take and the steps you keep in place to take care of your health can prove to be very useful in your future when old age hits. Health is one thing that should be taken care of from the very beginning as at any point, a series of unhealthy choices could lead to drastic changes in your body which will only show themselves to us at a much later point of time in the future. Hence, it is important to be aware of the various conditions that could hit us in the future and to take care of the very beginning in order to avoid these conditions. Taking the necessary care would cost you less mentally, physically and financially too, unlike in the future where there would be trouble in all the three classes. Dementia is one such condition which is very commonly seen in old people in the world today. While it is not an entire disease in itself, it does represent a group of symptoms which interfere with the general way of living and lead to a miserable lifestyle.

Some factors which increase the risk of being a victim to this condition are unfortunately entirely out of your hands. Such risk factors include age (people above the age of 65 are at a higher risk), having a family history of dementia, Down syndrome (middle-aged people with this condition might mostly experience early-onset Alzheimer’s), mild cognitive impairment (which is a condition that causes problems with memory while leaving the area of daily, normal functioning unaffected).

However, there are some factors which could reduce the risk of dementia if kept under control and taken care of as soon as possible. These factors that should be changed or held in control are heavy alcohol consumption, smoking, cardiovascular conditions such as high cholesterol in the body, high blood pressure or hypertension, the building of fats in the walls of arteries (also known as atherosclerosis) and obesity, sleep apnea, and depression.

Coming face to face with dementia also leads to further complications. Once dementia affects a patient, they would eventually stop or reduce their regular consumption of nutrients and further experience an inability to swallow and chew. This inability could further lead to choking and cause problems with breathing which would finally lead to pneumonia. With the progress of this condition, performing everyday self-care tasks would become difficult and as a consequence, simple tasks which require safety such as cooking or driving can become hazardous. The condition could also result in coma and death.

To prevent this condition, one could constantly keep their mind active through various stimulating activities, avoid risk factors however possible, consume enough amount of vitamin D regularly, maintain physical fitness and stay socially active and maintain a healthy diet filled with vegetables and fruits, whole grains, omega-3 fatty acids, quit smoking and high alcohol consumption, and work on the high blood pressure to reduce it.