Our Medical Director, Dr Ivan Koychev, discusses cognitive decline and the importance of early detection in this podcast.
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Our Medical Director, Dr Ivan Koychev, discusses cognitive decline and the importance of early detection in this podcast. Ivan is an expert in dementia and cognitive decline. Besides serving as a consultant at the NHS, he is also a senior clinical researcher at Oxford University. Get an inside look at cognitive decline, diagnosis challenges, and how technology like Five Lives can help.
Medical low-down
It's never too early or too late to act to protect your brain.
Brain changes associated with dementia start many years before symptoms arise, therefore positive lifestyle changes in your forties and fifties are particularly important. But there is evidence to suggest that brain ageing starts as early as our late twenties to thirties, and that these changes roughly match the pace of physical ageing accelerated by unhealthy lifestyle choices. We also know that some risk factors for dementia start very early in life, such as having less than 12 years of formal education.
1. Belsky, Daniel W., et al. "Quantification of biological aging in young adults." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.30 (2015): E4104-E4110.
2. Livingston G, Huntley J, Sommerlad A, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission. Lancet. 2020;396(10248):413–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30367-6
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