July 22nd is World Brain Day. In conjunction with the World Health Organisation, the World Federation of Neurology has announced ‘Brain Health and Prevention’ as this year’s theme.
The Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at UNSW Sydney leads the world’s largest internet-based trial to attempt to prevent cognitive decline and dementia. The trial – Maintain Your Brain – recruited over 6000 participants aged 55-77 to target modifiable risk factors for dementia in general and Alzheimer’s disease in particular.
Led by internationally acclaimed expert in brain ageing, Professor Henry Brodaty AO, the trial tested whether improving lifestyle behaviours can slow cognitive decline and, in the longer term, delay the onset of dementia. The trial was innovative because all the interventions were online, making it relatively inexpensive to implement to the wider general population.
“Research into prevention is a major priority for us,” says CHeBA Co-Directors Professor Henry Brodaty and Professor Perminder Sachdev.
“As dementia is primarily a disease of late-life, delaying the onset by targeting these modifiable risk factors can have a major impact on Alzheimer’s disease rates.
“Postponing onset by even two years could reduce Alzheimer’s disease prevalence by up to 20% and a 5-year delay could potentially halve the prevalence.”
Dementia is the greatest cause of disability in Australians aged over 65 years, the second leading cause of mortality, and the highest in women.
“When we discuss brain health and prevention, we’re safeguarding our blueprint for the future. It’s not merely about reacting; it’s about actively cultivating a culture of prevention for neurological diseases,” said Prof. Wolfgang Grisold, President of WFN. “Our dedication to preventing neurological disorders is the cornerstone of our resilience for tomorrow.”
According to CHeBA’s Co-Directors, there is now enough evidence that many lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of dementia by 40% or more, which is what makes Maintain Your Brain such a significant research trial.
The Maintain Your Brain model is an intervention that is scalable for broad use. Significant funding is needed to implement an enhanced version of the Maintain Your Brain online intervention to a wider population reaching a greater diversity of Australians. This would then lead to consideration of application for a patent and discussions with federal government for national delivery, health funds or technology companies for commercialisation.
On a societal level, these interventions could result in significant impacts on worldwide prevalence.
“This research will have an enormous impact on the future of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.”
