BOOST YOUR BRAIN HEALTH

As doctors highlight the importance of early detection in dementia cases, here's how we can help protect ourselves

-  JOAN MCFADDEN

Around 982,000 people live with dementia in the UK and that number is expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040. The cost of caring for those with this devastating condition is immense, estimated to be around £42 billion in the UK this year and predicted to rise to a whopping £90 billion by 2040, while the emotional cost is incalculable. Professor Craig Ritchie, CEO and founder of Scottish Brain Sciences, says we need a completely fresh approach to Alzheimer's detection and treatment.

"The development of a test which identifies amyloid protein in the brain, a known contributor to the symptoms revealing the disease's deterioration, has changed everything. There are new drugs that can help clear these proteins many years before symptoms appear." However, only those who can afford to pay privately can currently benefit from this treatment as it has been deemed too expensive to prescribe on the NHS.

Ritchie Professor Ritchie believes there will be a cure for Alzheimer's within the next 10 years if treatment focuses on a younger generation of people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's. He says the new treatments being developed aren't for people with moderate or advanced Alzheimer's and that we need younger volunteers in research and clinical trials. "Brain disease can start in your fifties or younger, 10 to 20 years before symptoms emerge," he explains. "We should be concentrating on that, and making people aware of what they can do to maintain good brain health from an early age." With that in mind, here are five steps you can take to help keep your brain in check...

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