How to stop memory loss progressing to dementia

Before Alzheimer's sets in, there is a window of opportunity

Dementia is irreversible. That is an awful truth that looms as we approach later life. But dementia isn’t something that you just wake up with one morning: there is a transition period between normal brain function and dementia, where nothing is final, nothing is preordained.

It is during this in-between stage that it is still possible to halt, and even reverse, progression of the disease.

That transition period is called mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI is the pre-dementia stage, and it is estimated that 15-20% of people aged 65 are affected. Of those people, around 46% will go on to develop dementia within 3 years of receiving that diagnosis.

This is the time to take action, and to take heart: 15-40% of people with MCI ‘return to a healthy state’.

This is not false hope or wishful thinking. The evidence points increasingly towards lifestyle factors, including diet, as determinants of whether or not MCI turns into dementia.

With that in mind, below are seven of the most researched, most effective dietary changes that can make a life-changing difference.

MCI is described as a long, preclinical phase characterised by raised inflammatory markers in the brain.

Inflammation is a feature of the Alzheimer’s brain. The first place to douse the flames is the mouth.