5 things you can do now to reduce dementia risk | Professor Claire Steves

How soon should we start taking our dementia risk seriously?

In today’s episode of ZOE Science & Nutrition, Jonathan is joined by Prof. Claire Steves to explore the multifaceted world of dementia. They delve into the significance of dental health, genetics, diet, and physical activity — plus, they unpack the latest research — to give you practical strategies for preventing dementia.

Claire is a consultant physician in geriatric medicine at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. She’s also a senior clinical lecturer at King's College London and deputy clinical director of the institution’s Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology where she leads research on the characterization of physical and mental aging traits and frailty.

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Timecodes:

00:00 - Introduction

01:26 - Quickfire questions on dementia

02:42 - Main discussion: understanding dementia

04:18 - Control over fate with dementia

06:52 - Why older people get more fractures

08:32 - Warning signs of dementia

09:55 - Unique aspects of dementia

12:12 - Cellular level discussion on dementia

15:49 - Risk factors for dementia

16:07 - Inheritance and dementia

18:29 - High-risk factors for dementia

19:15 - Fetal development and dementia risk

21:47 - Brain reserves and mental health

24:24 - New advances in dementia treatment

30:47 - Medications and life expectancy

33:21 - Diet and dementia prevention

35:58 - The role of physical activity

39:45 - Oral health and dementia

42:10 - Social interaction and brain health

44:02 - Diabetes and dementia

45:36 - Women, HRT, and dementia

49:09 - Recap: Types of dementia

53:39 - Hearing aids and dementia prevention

55:39 - Episode sign-off

Studies related to today’s episode:

• Brain-age is associated with progression to dementia in memory clinic patients from NeuroImage Clinical

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Are you interested in a specific aspect of dementia? Email us at [email protected], and we’ll do our best to cover it.

Episode transcripts are available here.