We all have a 100% chance of dying. The good news is that our chance of being affected by dementia is considerably less, especially if you take simple steps that are available.
The bad news is that your number could come up if you don't make any effort to avoid it.
Globally, dementia only affects about 1 in 20 people over the age of 65, and around 1 in 5 over the age of 80.

But we still fear the possibility -- and rightly so.
International studies make it clear that dementia occurs in every country of the world.
The 2006 estimate of 24 million people with dementia is expected to rise to 81 million by 2040. Of these, 71% will be living in the developing regions.
And Alzheimer's accounts for between 50% and 70% of all dementias.

Sobering statistics. No wonder the boomers are starting to take more notice as they approach 60 and beyond.
So Who Are You?
Your memories define who you are. Lose your memory and you lose you.
It happened to me in 2001. And the lesson learned was dreadful. The. Most. Frightening. Experience. In. My. Life.
I was walking when, suddenly, I lost most of my memory. Bang. Gone. No warning.
Fortunately I knew where I lived so I could keep walking. The hamster had gone but the wheel kept turning...

That's all I could remember. I'd even lost who I was.
I did know that all was far from well. Intense fear gripped my bowels and stomach. Sweat oozed from every pore. And I screamed. A primal sound from my very core, that apparently almost froze the blood of a nearby witness to my distress.

I made it home -- somehow.
For days afterwards little bits of memory began to return, much to my wife's relief, as well as mine.
A case of Transient Global Amnesia, according to the neurologist. Triggered by stress in my particular case, and unlikely to return as long as I made some life-changes.
I quickly made those, I can tell you!
But as I became more together and more me again I became more aware of, and unsettled by, the gaps that remained.
They've since closed and it's Max-intact once again. I'm me again. In fact, the Mark 2 version is now much sharper.
That's because of some low-cost and no-cost memory improvement strategies I use from a surprisingly effective e-Book I found a while back.

Gaps In Our Reality

Believe me, it's the gaps that are the most distressing. For Alzheimer's victims, as the gaps develop and widen, they suffer. And it's surely worse for friends and relatives.
Mornings, I fix sick computers at peoples' homes. I often help one lovely chap in his early 80s.
Speaking of his Alzheimer's-afflicted wife, he said to me one day "She's disappearing before my eyes..." I almost wept at the look on his face.
Sadly, there are no cures for Alzheimer's -- yet. Certainly there's some promising research on mice by a Melbourne team in Australia that could point to a possible cure. But nothing definitive right now.

A Positive Outlook
However, all is not lost by any means.
Be uplifted. Be positive. Because there are steps we can take to prevent and avoid Alzheimer's-- international research is pretty clear about that.
The links between Alzheimer's and diet, genes, exercise, blood pressure, obesity, cholesterol, alcohol, diabetes, certain drugs, the effects of mercury and aluminium, are all becoming more widely known and understood.

That's lead to well-documented, preventative measures we can all take.
Alzheimer's disease is not a normal part of aging, and there are ways to reduce your chances of getting the disease.

From teenagers who want to get it all together, to boomagers who want to keep it all together, there certainly are things we can all do:

* to improve our memory

* to exercise our brain

* even to avoid dementia

Sure, dementia can happen to anyone, but is not a normal part of aging.

Know The Enemy

Ten early symptoms of dementia include:

* Memory loss

* Difficulty in performing everyday tasks

* Problems with language

* Disorientation to time and place

* Poor or decreased judgment

* Problems with keeping track of things

* Misplacing things

* Changes in mood or behaviour

* Changes in personality

* Loss of initiative

We all experience some of these symptoms at times and to one degree or another.
Doesn't mean we've got dementia, though, does it?
Mind you, if the symptoms appear, stay and increase in number and intensity then sure, some medical advice would be needed. And anyone with every symptom showing every day is probably not reading this at all...
Although Alzheimer's is the most well-known form of dementia, those over 65 are far from guaranteed a permanent visit.
For example, from current statistics I found only 1 in 10 Americans, 1 in 15 Australians, and 1 in 20 Canadians and Britons, are affected by the disease.
Age-Associated Memory Impairment (AAMI) is much more widespread.
It seems more sensible that we should do what we can to protect and preserve our memory from AAMI.

Steps We Can Take

Strategies and programs are out there on the internet. Some expensive, some low cost, others free. And plenty are in the book I mentioned.
Mental exercises and stimulation. Modifying diet. Exercise. Socialising. Developing leisure activities. And much more.
Remember, though, if you don't use it you lose it. So keep that brain ticking over.
Yours is far better than that computer you're probably stuck in front of right now.
And do be nice to the people around you. If your number comes up in the statistics you might need them one day...

Copyright (c) Max Pinner, 2007