Dementia is Not Inevitable. How to Lower Your Risk.
Causes and remedies of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
Dementia is on a lot of minds after Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance Thursday night, in which he repeatedly appeared to lose his train of thought and struggled to string together coherent sentences. Watching him struggle—whatever the cause, and I’m not venturing a diagnosis here—can make any of us wonder and worry whether dementia is our destiny.
While dementia is a terrible disease for those dealing with it and their loved ones, it is often characterized as an inevitable outcome of old age.
It is not.
About 10% of Americans 65 and older have dementia. That means 90% do not.
Another 22% of those 65 and older have mild cognitive impairment, where memory and cognitive function diminish. You might be a little more forgetful, or lose your train of thought now and then, and even have poorer judgement and decision-making skills, “but these changes aren’t bad enough to impact daily life or affect usual activities,” as the Mayo Clinic puts it. Mild cognitive impairment can lead to dementia, but does not always do so.
On the other end of the spectrum, some people well into old age—up to around age 81 in one study—retain brain…
