The Economist is running a lengthy article on dementia, this morning. There is good
news and bad news: the absolute numbers of people with the bigD is rising, as the
proportion of elderly people in the population rises but the actual rates od dementia
have been steadily declining. Why?? What protects from dementia is a healthy lifestyle
twenty years before the Golden years. The developed world has indeed moved to being
less boozy, overweight and sedentary and this is the payoff. The bad news: there is little
that can be done to reverse things, once decline has set in...
An interesting sidenote, here. Experts in the field have been decrying for years the absolute
increases in numbers, and how much all that is going to cost. But no one, until recently, was
seeing the decline in rates. Go for a jog, guys!!
* * *
My personal take on all this: the Internet is making a big difference for me. I am healing
the child in me, who was interested in all kinds of things, but never had the books, the money,
the opportunity, the friendly AI to answer questions. The Internet has changed all that, and
my sense of being defeated. If I want to learn Geology, sipping my favourite black coffee near the
window, today I can. How awesome is that...
No comments:
Post a Comment