, the purpose of which is to shield the brain from toxins in the blood. A symptom of a weak BBB is brain fog or difficulty concentrating. The founder of Viavi, a clinic that focuses on preventative medicine and health screening, Dr Donnai works with clients to try to stem cognitive declines. Its six-week Better Brain programme focuses on eliminating the risk factors harming your brain function as well as positive changes that support good brain health. Vascular dementia starts 15 years before you get your first symptom, and your lifestyle massively influences whether it expresses itself or not. Six weeks is long enough to see radical changes, she says: 'There is so much you can){kind=link}
Alzheimer’s is feared more than cancer or heart disease – but there are ways to reduce your risk
Those who have experienced the loss of a loved one to dementia will know that it’s like losing someone twice. With Alzheimer’s now the leading cause of death in the UK, this cruel disease is feared more than cancer, heart disease or stroke as we age.
While it can be frightening to be told that you have the markers for Alzheimer’s, Dr Sabine Donnai, a longevity and brain expert, says that it doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do. “There’s a perception that whether you develop Alzheimer’s or not is a lottery, but that’s not the case. It’s a lifestyle disease in the main,” she says.
There are genetic factors, just like with cancer and vascular disease, but of the 13 risk factors with dementia and Alzheimer’s, she points out that only one is genetic. “The 12 others are in our hands,” says Dr Donnai, a former medical director of Nuffield Health.
A little over 100 years ago Alzheimer’s didn’t exist. Today one in 11 people over the age of 65 has dementia in the UK. “The environment we’re living in has changed significantly and that’s what is driving the rates up,” says Dr Donnai.