If you know anyone who has suffered from dementia, you will understand what a cruel illness it can be. From forgetting simple things to aspects of your loved one’s personality changing, dementia can completely transform a person you thought you knew.

However, as you might’ve seen in the news, new advancements in dementia treatments could help to diagnose and treat the illness more effectively than ever before.

Read on to discover more about these scientific breakthroughs and what they could mean for anyone who might struggle with dementia in the future.

What is dementia?

Dementia is a syndrome (a group of symptoms) associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning, which means there are many different causes and types of dementia.

Two of the most common forms of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

Although doctors are unsure what causes Alzheimer’s disease, they have identified a number of risk factors, including:

• Increasing age
• Untreated depression
• A family history of the condition.

Vascular dementia, on the other hand, is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. This most commonly happens as a result of a stroke and affects around 180,000 people in the UK.

What are the advancements in diagnosing dementia?

Teams from Dementias Platform UK and UCL are working together to create the Blood Biomarker Challenge, a project which aims to revolutionise dementia diagnoses.

Currently, only 2% of people with dementia can access specialised tests (such as PET scans or lumbar punctures), which will confirm which type of dementia they have.

These researchers are recruiting participants from sites across the UK to trial new blood tests designed to diagnose a range of types of dementia.

The goal is for these teams to provide evidence that the blood tests are ready for use in the NHS, paving the way for them to be made widely available to anyone who might benefit in the next five years.

Quick and accurate diagnosis of dementia is crucial, as it would allow people to access vital care and support that could help them manage their symptoms. 

How do you treat dementia?

Although there is no known cure for dementia, scientists are experimenting with new treatments that can help to relieve patients’ symptoms.

In a recent CNN documentary, The Last Alzheimer’s Patient, two Alzheimer’s sufferers claim to have beaten the deadly disease through healthy lifestyle changes.

Cici Zerbe claimed to experience a reversal in her symptoms after participating in a clinical trial in the US, which explored the effects of intensive lifestyle changes on early dementia. 

These changes included switching to a plant-based diet, regular exercise, group support sessions, yoga and meditation.

BBC radio and comedy producer Simon Nicholls also took part in this trial as he carried two copies of the gene variant ApoE4, the greatest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s. One copy of the gene is associated with three to four times the risk of Alzheimer’s, but two copies increased his risk twelvefold.

After 14 months of drastically changing his lifestyle, Simon’s biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disappeared.

He cited a focus on physical activity – including strength training three times a week, walking 10,000 steps every day, and jogging or cycling every morning – and a healthy diet as the reason for the reversal of his symptoms.

What can I do to reduce my risk of dementia?

It’s important to remember that Cici and Simon are only two people in a larger study, so their experience may not be universal. However, cardiovascular disease is known to be a common cause of dementia, and it can be influenced by lifestyle changes.

So, what can you do to reduce your risk of dementia?

1. Eat healthily

Unhealthy foods can increase your cholesterol levels, which can build up hard plaque on your arteries and increase your risk of cardiovascular disease or heart attacks.

2. Exercise regularly

Exercising regularly can reduce your risk of a number of illnesses, including coronary heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

The NHS recommends that adults take part in 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of intense activity every week.

3. Quit smoking and enjoy alcohol responsibly

Smoking can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes, among other illnesses, which have been linked to dementia. 

Drinking more than the recommended 14 units of alcohol a week can shrink the parts of the brain involved in memory, and long-term heavy drinking can lead to alcohol-related dementia.

Quitting smoking and drinking may be hard, but it is one of the best things you can do for your health. Speak to your doctor if you need advice or help with kicking these unhealthy habits.

4. Improve your sleep hygiene

Researchers found that sleep deprivation could be linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Their study found that people in their 50s and 60s getting six hours of sleep or less were 30% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia than those who got a regular amount of sleep.

Adults are recommended to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night.