Excellent, what I see missing is what can be helped and what can’t at this time and why. It would also be useful to include the numbers for people who progress to dementia from those that don’t and some common factors. I always ask what can I do for myself and if it is a lifestyle change I make it. I find lifestyle changes get a bad rap because people want to want to make them but in daily life they do not do it for any extended time or intensity so I commit or make conscious decision to do nothing. No one has mentioned that several conditions masquerade as dementia and yet they are not and some of these are treatable so the forgetful, old, it’s normal/inevitable needs to go, also missing are ways people compensate for deficits.
In my own life when speculation starts about what ‘might’ be wrong with me in any area. I ask can it be fixed or managed and if the answer is no I refuse to engage. Ditto for testing. What is this test etc going to do for me? If the answer is not productive and the test costs me money I walk away. When people are convinced they are mentally deficient etc they tend to act that way, I would rather live in the land of denial free from medical appointments that are not absolutely necessary and safe from false positives, side effects and manufactured fear.
G'day!
Some of you might be interested in a conversation some of us had on Twitter after my blog post at Scientific American this week on dementia and screening for "predementia":
And for those who aren't interested in that, here's a cartoon on pre-disease instead.
Hilda
