If you’re like me, you’re wondering what it’s going to take to stave off dementia as you grow older. While it might not be possible, there are things you can do. But, Paula Span reports for the New York Times on research finding that people who take care of their health, including their eyes, are more likely to forestall or prevent dementia.
More people are being diagnosed with dementia. At the moment, there’s no drug to keep dementia at bay. Your genes play a big role in whether you will be diagnosed with dementia, and there’s little you can do about that. Some risk factors, however, are within your control, including high blood pressure, hearing loss and smoking.
Simple behavior changes–which are not so easy to undertake in practice–such as stopping smoking, wearing a hearing aid and taking medications to bring blood pressure down, are all important. In addition, it’s important to keep a healthy weight, stay physically active, not drink too much alcohol and be socially engaged.
Staving off dementia is also about keeping your neural system stimulated through sensory organs. People with healthy vision are less likely to suffer from dementia. So, get your eyes checked, wear glasses and get cataract surgery, if necessary. Without good hearing and vision, your neurons die. And, your brain function deteriorates.
A paper in JAMA Neurology finds that these types of behavior changes could have prevented more than 60 percent of dementia cases today.
Medicare does not cover most vision care, but there are ways to get free or low-cost treatment for your eyes. By doing so, almost everyone can avoid blindness or serious vision impairment. Medicare also does not cover hearing aids or most treatment for hearing loss. But, there are ways to get treatment for hearing loss as well.
Medicare does cover treatment for glaucoma and macular degeneration as well as cataract surgery. People tend to think that Medicare Advantage plans will cover hearing aids. In fact, typically, coverage is extremely limited, just a few hundred dollars off a total cost that is usually several thousand dollars. So, out-of-pocket costs remain very high and a barrier to getting hearing aids.
Here’s more from Just Care:
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