Dementia Calculator Predicts and Reduces Risk from Illness, Researcher Says

A dementia calculator developed by Canadian researchers is intended to predict and reduce the risk of illness for users aged 55 and over.

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A dementia calculator could predict and reduce the risk of the disease in question over the next five years for users aged 55 and over, Canadian researchers claimed.

Dementia will most likely develop with age. The fear of having the disease in question is considerable as a cure for it is not yet available. Even so, doctors recommend lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of getting it.

In addition, a proper lifestyle could also help mitigate the effects of dementia once it manifests itself. For example, an 82-year-old woman said her memory came back after following a certain diet.

Dr. Doug Brown, a member of the Alzheimer’s Society, confirmed via the BBC that eating a healthy, balanced diet helps fight the risk of memory loss, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

According to ScienceDaily, Dementia refers to memory loss and deterioration in thinking in general. It added that around 76,000 people are diagnosed with it, at least in Canada.

Dementia calculator predicts risks

The dementia calculator also helps with the right lifestyle, which also includes a balanced diet, by recognizing the risks early on.

Ottawa Hospital, the Bruyere Research Institute, and researchers from the University of Ottawa have teamed up to develop a calculator that can predict and reduce the risk of dementia. The research, which roughly 75,000 people took part, helped determine the risks in five years.

It helped predict risk because the tool was based on real world data collected from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Community Health Surveys.

Dementia calculator: stress level, education, alcohol consumption

According to Yahoo, the dementia prediction tool examines factors about a person such as ethnicity, age and immigration status, as well as physical activity, diet, marital status and alcohol consumption.

In addition, educational and environmental factors are also included in the analysis.

All of this personal data taken together could estimate how likely a person could develop dementia in the next five years.

Dr. Peter Tanuseputro, the study’s author, made it clear that they included ethnicity as the COVID-19 pandemic showed that “variables like ethnicity and neighborhood play an important role in our health”.

Also read: Giving sleeping pills to dementia patients with insomnia can increase the risk of fractures by 40 percent

Dementia Calculator helps to reduce the risk by changing lifestyle

The predictive dementia calculator is the best way to switch to a proper lifestyle before the disease affects a person.

As mentioned earlier, a simple change in lifestyle could treat said condition. Both regular physical activity and a healthy diet would help reduce the risk of dementia.

The calculator can also be accessed online at projectbiglife.ca. It is among the other tools that Project Big Life offers on its website, including the life expectancy prediction tool on the platform.

Currently, the dementia calculator is specifically designed for Canadian users, but the researchers said it can be customized for other countries as well. A similar local health survey will complete the adaptation to other population groups.

Elsewhere, a recent study found that late-age sleep deprivation increased the risk of dementia by 30%.

Related article: According to the study, drinking orange juice can reduce the risk of dementia by up to 50 percent

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Written by Teejay Boris

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