Dementia Prevention

Dementia prevention

The numbers of people with end stage degenerative brain disease (or dementia) is increasing in all parts of the world, primarily because people are living longer.

Historically in dementia and degenerative brain disease work we have been focused on helping people with symptoms of dementia at more advanced stage to not develop significant impairments, with post diagnostic support and medications.  However, with greater understanding of the science of degenerative brain diseases, we are now able to detect early disease and are getting better at working out what is likely to happen in the future.

There is now convincing evidence that degenerative brain disease starts about 30-40 years before the first signs of dementia appear. If we can do this effectively decades before the symptoms develop, then we can prevent the disease progressing to dementia.

Prevention is a massive area of research world-wide and in Scotland. This work mainly includes the undertaking and coordination of cohort studies (a group of people studied over time) where we can learn about disease progression and how this is related to factors like lifestyle, medical comorbidities and genetics.

Scottish dementia informatics partnership

Dementia diagnosis

Living with dementia