Many of us are lucky to grow older, and in Europe there is an aging demographic. With this come the diseases of aging such as dementia and a burden on family and society for care.

For a long time people have thought this inevitable but we will learn today that, as with so many diseases, lifestyle changes from a young age can counteract this, to reduce the risk of getting dementia and also stabilising mental decline.

In 2021, 20.8% of the EU population was aged 65 years or older. In 2019, an Alzheimer Europe report on the prevalence of dementia estimated that there were about 9 million people living with the disease in Europe. This number is projected to double by 2050, rising towards 19 million in the European region. Globally, there are around 55 million people worldwide who are living with dementia. However, research is now showing that up to 45% of dementias could be prevented: by addressing a range of modifiable risk factors, at different stages of our lives.

My guests today are:

Dr. Ange Bradshaw: Director for Research at Alzheimer’s Europe

Dr. Joëlle Fritz: Research and Strategy Specialist, Luxembourg Institute of Health

Dr. Francesca Mangialasche: Geriatrician, Division of Clinical Geriatrics: Alzheimer Research Center Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet and Executive Director of the World-Wide FINGERS Global Scientific Coordinating Center at the FINGERS Brain Health Institute

Hassan Fadli: Founder, 5 Ironmans Beat Alzheimer's Association

The 2024 World Alzheimer’s report noted that 80% of people think dementia is a normal part of ageing, and 65% of healthcare professionals.

Only 2% of the population are affected by rare genetic factors but for most of us this is not the case. ‘Modifiable risk factors’ can be replaced to deter and stall dementia.

Francesca Mangialasce is based at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and also works as executive director of the ‘FINGERS’ Brain Health Institute, founded by Professor Mija Kivipelto, a world renowned researcher in the field of Alzheimer's disease and Dementia.

FBHI is dedicated to promoting healthy brain aging and preventing cognitive impairment and dementia through innovative multi-domain clinical research and the fast translation of these results into personalised clinical practice.

Brain is our main capital, and there is so much we can do to promote brain health. Studies have show that cardiovascular and metabolic disorders such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, high blood sugar or diabetes are risk factors for dementia. There are many other emerging factors such as hearing impairment, vision loss, impaired oral health. 

Being mentally, physically and socially active during life is important to reduce the risk of memory problems in old age. Secondary and tertiary prevention is also really important, even at the later stages of disease with therapies including art, dance and cognitive stimulation therapy . 

The FINGER study across 70 countries shows that a multi-domain approach can benefit cognition:exercise, healthy diet, cognitive training, good control of metabolic/vascular disorders, and social stimulation.

Stigma

Hassan Fadli’s father faced stigma in the village he lived all his life. This stigma deepens the pain of the suffering, knowing you are losing ‘yourself’. It is also a burden for the caregivers at a time when family and friends need the most help to support their loved one.  

Hassan promised his father to work towards breaking this stigma and founded the 5 Ironmans initiative. Hassan has also made a documentary of his advocacy work alongside the endurance sport to reach people from children in schools across Europe to the Queen of Sweden.  His aim is to bring brain health into normal conversation, break the stigma, and integrate brain health awareness into public discourse. 

Luxembourg support

Joëlle Fritz is working  as Research and Strategy Specialist at the Luxembourg Institute of Health where she aims to bridge research to clinical care. "Programme démence prevention" (pdp) is a programme raising awareness on modifiable risk factors for dementia prevention and promotes life style changes.

PDP is an integrated prevention concept funded by Luxembourg's Ministry of Health and Social Security. PDP is currently coordinated by the Centre Hospitalier  de Luxembourg in collaboration with national institutions (Luxembourg Institute of Health and Luxembourg Centre for System's Biomedicine at the University of Luxembourg) and partner associations (listed below). It is important to start as early as possible in the prevention of dementia, and so the PDP Braincoach app was created, accessible via browser to everyone also outside Luxembourg: www.pdp-app.lu

Associations related in Luxembourg:

L’Association nationale des diététiciens du Luxembourg: www.andl.lu

ZithaAktiv: www.zithaaktiv.lu  

Club Seniors of HELP asbl: www.help.lu

Club Senior “Schwaarze Wee” Dudelange:   www.schwaarzewee.lu

Lëtzebuerger Verein fir Gediechtnistraining: www.lvgt.lu

NEUROvitalis home and digital

Info-Zenter Demenz:   www.demenz.lu

Association Luxembourg Alzheimer (ala) : www.ala.lu 

Longevity with health 

The results are clear, for dementia and living a long life with good health: we need to put in place good habits of physical, social and mental health. 

Links to the notes above:

https://www.5ironmansbeatalzheimer.com

www.pdp.lu

https://www.alzheimer-europe.org

https://fbhi.se/sv/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/fingers-brain-health-institute/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/miia-kivipelto-8a8b1b3b/

https://www.chl.lu/fr

https://m3s.gouvernement.lu/en.html

https://www.uni.lu/lcsb-en/

https://ki.se/en