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Dodging Dementia by Mary Jordan

Updating ‘The Essential Guide to Avoiding Dementia’

We frequently read in the headlines about research efforts that hold out the possibility of a cure once we have found the elusive ‘cause’ of dementia, but in the 10 years since I wrote The Essential Guide to Avoiding Dementia it has become ever clearer that we are no nearer to finding either the cause or a cure.

It now looks as if there is no one cause and current research seems to point to the accumulation of multiple factors all contributing to the risk until perhaps an individual reaches a ‘tipping point’ and dementia symptoms develop.

So, in this new edition of the book I have looked at the many risk factors that are known and also at the strong empirical evidence for other factors which might play a part.

There has been much new research in the last 10 years but interestingly, none of it appears to refute the conclusions drawn back in 2013 about risk factors highlighted in the first edition of Avoiding Dementia. What is of interest is the new emphasis laid lifestyle factors and the suggestions that have arisen as a result of the social restrictions during the ‘Covid era’.

Dementia does not go away when people socialise less – it gets worse – and I have found myself busier than ever, working in the field of dementia support.

I am fortunate in being able to spend time, so often not available to other health professionals, having in-depth conversation with those whose lives have been affected by the diagnosis. As people talk about their experience of dementia certain factors come up again and again – physical and mental trauma, illness, stress, nutritional habits, lifestyle options, polypharmacy, sleep disturbances and, lately, the lack of social interaction.

Not all of these factors have been heavily researched but as I have listened to case histories and put together information about risk factors, I have noticed a number of what I call ‘connections’. Many others are interested in these connections too, and in the theories and viewpoints about some of the treatments which have empirical evidence behind them, as well as the hard evidence that comes from medical trials. I have written this book for those people and for anyone who is worried about the possibility of developing dementia.

In Part One of this book I review evidence about the known risk factors and some of the research in those areas. Part Two allows you to make a personal assessment of how these risk factors affect you and in Part Three we discuss, in the light of this knowledge, what steps you personally can take to play your part in dodging dementia.

We don’t know if we can avoid developing dementia but some of us would like to have a jolly good try at doing so! This book is a tool to help you in that aim.

Mary Jordan

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Mary Jordan reviews ‘When the Time Comes’

Book review by Mary Jordan, author of ‘The Essential Carer’s Guide’ and ‘The Essential Carer’s Guide to Dementia’, of ‘When the Time Comes: Stories from the end of life‘ by Dr Magnolia Cardona and Nurse Ebony Lewis. 

This is a very thought-provoking book. It is a collection of short stories about actual experiences of dying and end of life care. Because each story is told by a different individual we hear from many viewpoints and cultures but the emotion which comes most often to mind is the general feeling of dissatisfaction experienced with standard medical attention at end of life.

Mostly the people relating these accounts to do not blame those medical professionals concerned at the end of these lives. But they do wish generally that things could be managed better. One of the problems in our civilisation is that hospitals and doctors are not seen as helping to make death a more comfortable experience. Doctors and hospitals are concerned with curing illness and bringing people back to health and this means that many of us at end of life get carried along by the medical path that is concerned with ‘trying one more treatment’ or tackling one more crisis. For example, we are told about a patient who is ‘ready to go’ but who continues to ‘endure the efforts of a health system determined to do all they can to keep him here’.

What we seldom have at this stage is the time to take a step back and consider the options.

Ideally this thinking would be done before the crisis arises and indeed this book advocates thinking ahead and giving time to planning our own end of life as well as helping our loved ones to do the same. Each account in the book ends with a few questions which can form the basis of considering end of life, looking at many different practical and ethical points.

I would perhaps like to have seen a little more room given in the stories to people who are not yet ‘ready to go’ and who do want every effort to be made to keep them in this life but over all that is not what the book is meant to be about. The points about having a good quality end of life experience and about communicating your wishes in this respect to those around us are very well made.

This is a book well worth reading and using as a discussion focus with those you love best.

Dodging Dementia (2nd Edition of The Essential Guide to Avoiding Dementia) Paperback + eBook bundle

Contents

Part I: What we know about the risk factors: Age, personality, social factors; Trauma, physical and mental; Miscellaneous factors; Drugs and medication (to be contributed by Dr J Thompson); Nutritional factors; Part II: Assessing personal risk factors: Past history; Physical status; Lifestyle; Current status; Part III: What you can do: Nutrition; Exercise; Confounding factors to avoid; Sleep, stress and social life; Planning ahead; Resources

Dodging Dementia (2nd Edition of The Essential Guide to Avoiding Dementia) eBook

Contents

Part I: What we know about the risk factors: Age, personality, social factors; Trauma, physical and mental; Miscellaneous factors; Drugs and medication (to be contributed by Dr J Thompson); Nutritional factors; Part II: Assessing personal risk factors: Past history; Physical status; Lifestyle; Current status; Part III: What you can do: Nutrition; Exercise; Confounding factors to avoid; Sleep, stress and social life; Planning ahead; Resources

 

Dodging Dementia (2nd Edition of The Essential Guide to Avoiding Dementia) Paperback

Contents

Part I: What we know about the risk factors: Age, personality, social factors; Trauma, physical and mental; Miscellaneous factors; Drugs and medication (to be contributed by Dr J Thompson); Nutritional factors; Part II: Assessing personal risk factors: Past history; Physical status; Lifestyle; Current status; Part III: What you can do: Nutrition; Exercise; Confounding factors to avoid; Sleep, stress and social life; Planning ahead; Resources

Dodging Dementia: Understanding MCI and other risk factors (2nd Edition of The Essential Guide to Avoiding Dementia)

Contents

Part I: What we know about the risk factors: Age, personality, social factors; Trauma, physical and mental; Miscellaneous factors; Drugs and medication (to be contributed by Dr J Thompson); Nutritional factors; Part II: Assessing personal risk factors: Past history; Physical status; Lifestyle; Current status; Part III: What you can do: Nutrition; Exercise; Confounding factors to avoid; Sleep, stress and social life; Planning ahead; Resources

 

The Essential Carer’s Guide to Dementia

“Tell me what to expect at each stage of dementia, and how to deal with it,” Mary Jordan’s clients frequently ask her. The advice she gives, one-to-one while working for a national dementia charity and in the workshops she runs for carers, forms the basis of this practical guide. In the Essential Carer’s Guide to Dementia, Mary explains what you can expect when you receive a diagnosis of one of the many causes of dementia and what you can do to manage life going forward – how you can slow the progress of symptoms and how you can maximise available support. The earlier you start, the better you will be able to cope.

Essential Carer’s Guide

Mary Jordan’s unique insight into the care of dementia stems from her first-hand experience of caring for friends and relatives with the condition and professionally from her work for a national dementia charity. She has many years of experience working for the National Health Service and in the field of medical publishing. In addition to articles and papers published in medical, nursing and social care journals and general magazines, Mary is also known for her books ‘The Essential Carer’s Guide to Dementia’, ‘The Fundholder’s Handbook’, the award-winning ‘End of Life, The Essential Guide to Caring’ and ‘The Essential Guide to Avoiding Dementia’.

The Essential Carer’s Guide to Dementia eBook

“Tell me what to expect at each stage of dementia, and how to deal with it,” Mary Jordan’s clients frequently ask her. The advice she gives, one-to-one while working for a national dementia charity and in the workshops she runs for carers, forms the basis of this practical guide. In the Essential Carer’s Guide to Dementia, Mary explains what you can expect when you receive a diagnosis of one of the many causes of dementia and what you can do to manage life going forward – how you can slow the progress of symptoms and how you can maximise available support. The earlier you start, the better you will be able to cope.

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Happy New Year from Hammersmith Health Books

Looking forward to 2024

All the signs are that the world is increasingly troubled by conflict and there is little hope of quick resolution. Conflict, strife and stress are, we know, risks for our short- and long-term mental and physical health and the statistics on the increasing prevalence of chronic health conditions worldwide bear this out. Mental health problems are now the commonest reason people in the 25-40 age bracket in the UK are not able to work. As ever, HHB seeks to help its readers take charge of their own health by understanding the root causes of disease and improving their diet, lifestyle and stress levels where this is possible. Of course, a general book can never be a substitute for seeking individual advice from a health professional and a diagnosis can often turn out to be something you never even thought of, but we hope our books, backed up as they are by longstanding and cutting-edge evidence, will give you a good basis for improving your health and wellbeing in 2024.

We begin the year with Dodging Dementia by Mary Jordan, which includes a chapter on pharmaceutical issues contributed by author of Curing the Incurable, Dr Jerry Thompson. Mary reviews past and current research about the risks for developing dementia – those factors we can influence, such as diet and exercise, and those factors we cannot but must take into account, such as genetics and past trauma. She then shows how we can apply these general findings to our personal situation and consider what we can do as individuals to improve our chances of staying cognitively well. Her emphasis is on what is practical and worthwhile rather than being a counsel of perfection!

For February, we are very excited to announce the third edition of Dr Sarah Myhill’s bestselling Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalitis and Long Covid: It’s mitochondria, not hypochondria. Sarah, now with regular co-author Craig Robinson, has gone right back to basics, re-writing her best known book on a need-to-know basis that ensures fatigued readers are not overwhelmed with detail yet have all the information they need to restore their energy levels. This can be a long journey – there are no short cuts – but, as Sarah says, the measures she describes are also those that will support long-term good health across the board.

March sees the launch of therapist Sally Baker’s long-awaited The Getting of Resilience from Inside Out. Based on her work with thousands of clients, Sally brings the good news that resilience is something we can acquire no matter how bad our life experiences have been. She gives us the tools to achieve this, backed up with case histories and tried-and-tested practical exercises.

Resilience is something we will all be needing more of as 2024 unfolds. Look out for our special offers and regular giveaways by signing up for our newsletter and/or following us on social media. Our regular blog posts will also, we very much hope, prove useful in the coming months.