Cuimhne Dementia Action Week 2022 Blog Series
Thinking About Brain Health
Irish in Britain Cuimhne team’s Top Tips for Brain Health
Zibiah Loakthar, our Cuimhne Coordinator writes:
We often take our health and our bodies for granted. This seems especially so with brain health, perhaps because our brains are parts of our body usually out of view.
Dementia is caused by damage to or loss of nerve cells and their connections in the brain. Dementia impairs our ability to remember, think and make decisions. There are many different types of dementia. The most common is Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer's disease is a disease of the brain. It affects the part of the brain associated with learning and early symptoms often include changes in memory, thinking and reasoning skills.
People often worry that dementia such as Alzheimer’s Disease is genetic. A person with a parent or sibling with Alzheimer's is considered to have a higher chance of developing the disease. However, this does not mean that that person will develop the disease.
“When diseases tend to run in families, either heredity (genetics), environmental factors, or both, may play a role.” Alzheimer’s Association
We are not in complete control about whether our lives may be affected by dementia. Besides the genetic cards we are dealt, there are also environmental factors beyond our individual control. However, we can take positive steps both individually and as families and communities to help reduce the chance of developing dementia.
By supporting each other to live healthy lifestyles and look after our brain health we may reduce the likelihood of dementia or slow down its onset.
“Evidence is mounting that a healthy lifestyle can keep dementia at bay. Crucially, it is never too late (or too early) to start looking after your brain health – and even small changes could make a big difference.” Brain Health Network
There are simple things that we can all do to look after brain health. It is easy to spend time regretting that we may not have paid attention to our health yesterday and worrying about possible consequences for tomorrow. This kind of worrying is unhelpful distraction, wasting time we can give to focusing on what we are able to do for ourselves now!
Our first tip for Brain Health is then to Care for Ourselves.
Not to be too self critical about things we wish we had done or had not done. To be kind to ourselves and to adopt a very practical proactive approach to caring for our brain health. What can we do now?
Caring for ourselves is important not only because of the benefits to us but also because of the benefits to others. We cannot care for others if we neglect to care for ourselves. As a caring community how can we help ensure that those caring for others are also caring for and cared for themselves?
What community conversations could we hold about this? In our Cuimhne team at Irish in Britain we have been recognising the need to think both about how we support and include and involve people living with dementia in community life, as well as how we can support and involve and include family carers.