It’s been an emotional week. Let me explain. My Dad is still working at 74, as an academic Professor. For many people, working at this age would seem an awful proposition, but his job is also his hobby and passion so whilst he remains mentally and physically capable he is happy to do it. I firmly believe age is just a number, and a person’s biological age and capability is far more important than the date on their birth certificate. Indeed having a spread of ages including at the higher end is an asset to any large employer. This week, he was due to present a paper at an international conference. The only snag – he is also the sole carer for my mum who has dementia. My brother and I therefore split the week, and travelled up to Warwickshire to care for her.
Dementia is often a rather slowly progressive condition, but in my mum’s case appears to be rapidly deteriorating. She turns 80 in a few weeks, and whilst a year ago could just about convince a stranger that there were no major cognitive issues, she now couldn’t manage a few hours alone. Although I didn’t ask her directly, I’m pretty sure if I asked her my name and who I was, she wouldn’t have known (although did see me as a friendly face). Both short and long-term memory are shot. She has terrible trouble word-finding. She doesn’t know where her bedroom is despite living in the same house for 40 years, and wanders at night. It is no kind of existence, and so very sad. I felt pretty drained after only a few days, my poor Dad is running on empty. I expect nursing home care is not far away.
As you may know, I did my research degree at the University College of London in the field of genetics and inherited heart disease. I run the Dorset service for inherited cardiac conditions, and am fascinated about the role genetics play in health and disease. I would be lying if I said I was unconcerned about having a first degree relative with dementia, but it’s not something that keeps me up at night. Why?
The first and most important reason, and the reason to write about it today, is that although there are some genetic conditions that are highly heritable and penetrant (for example – if you inherit a gene for Huntington’s disease there is a very high chance you will develop it), the majority are not. Let me put that a different way – only 7-30% of health and well-being is determined by your genes. That means that whilst genetics are undoubtedly important, most of a person’s health outcome is to do with lifestyle. Even if you have an unfortunate family history (as I do), you can significantly stack the odds in your favour by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
The second reason it doesn’t keep me awake at night is that I’m an optimist. I may see the a negative side to a situation, but never dwell on it or worry about it for any length of time. I control the variables I can control, and don’t let the rest concern me. My friends have often described me as a lucky person, and I do often feel like that. I believe however that an optimistic outlook in any given situation helps to ‘create luck’. I wrote a whole section on dementia last year, and please do re-visit it for a read as there’s a lot of useful information in there. I think the start of a new year is a great time to do this, as many of the lifestyle measures that have been shown to reduce dementia risk and exactly the sort of things people come up with as New Year’s resolutions.
Having a ‘why?’ is a really useful aspect of behaviour change, and of helping healthy habits stick. A big ‘why?’ for me is clearly to reduce my chances of developing dementia. I will do everything in my power to avoid the fate of my mum. This week I’m booked in to have a whole panel of blood tests. I may feel good, but what’s going on on the inside? If we look deeply enough, the majority of us will have a reason in our family history to provide some motivation to lead healthier lives. What does this look like for you? If you would like some help with this, hit reply, and we can set up a consultation to find out more.