Own your health: How to protect your brain and prevent dementia

Dementia prevention doesn't begin in old age, but in everyday life

We've all experienced how we can influence our physical fitness through exercise and nutrition. But when it comes to our brain, the prevailing view is often that cognitive decline is an inevitable part of aging.

However, scientific evidence from recent decades shows that lifestyle factors significantly influence the health of our brain – and are a key starting point in dementia and stroke prevention.

Neuroplasticity: Your brain is a living muscle

For a long time, it was thought that the brain was "hardwired" after childhood. Today we know: The opposite is true!

Our brain is a dynamic organ. It processes information from the environment and the body itself, controls movements, and regulates basic body functions such as breathing and heartbeat.

An important characteristic of the brain is its adaptability. Through learning and experience, connections between nerve cells can change, form new links, and regenerate – even into old age. This ability is called neuroplasticity.

By challenging your brain and protecting it through conscious lifestyle choices, you build up a so-called cognitive reserve, comparable to a savings account for the mind: The more "credit" you deposit through a healthy lifestyle, the better your brain can compensate for later damage or age-related changes without symptoms occurring.

Why prevention works

The LancetThe Commission has 2024 This confirms that almost half of all dementia cases worldwide could theoretically be prevented. Specifically, 14 modifiable risk factors can be identified.*

Through targeted prevention – or “neuroprevention” – we can reduce the risk of strokes by up to 90% and the risk of dementia by up to 50%. It is therefore never too early and rarely too late to take control.

Dementia usually develops over many years and is the result of a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors.

The most important factors that can be influenced include:

• physical inactivity
• unhealthy diet
• social isolation
• cognitive understimulation
• chronic stress
• sleep disorders

Small things, big impact: How to take control of your health

"Own your health" doesn't mean you have to turn your entire life upside down overnight. It's often the "little" things in everyday life that have been scientifically proven to make a big difference:

Listen instead of turning a deaf ear: Untreated hearing loss in middle age is one of the biggest risk factors. Wearing a hearing aid not only protects your hearing, but also keeps your brain active and socially connected.

Maintain social contacts: Loneliness is stressful for the brain. Regular interaction with friends and family promotes mental health and builds cognitive reserves.

Exercise as brain doping: Physical activity is one of the strongest protectors of the mind. Even regular brisk walking or moderate endurance training improves blood flow to the brain and promotes cognitive performance.

New Learning: Lifelong learning – be it a new language, a hobby or challenging tasks at work – strengthens cognitive networks and protects against decline.

Use check-ups: Knowledge is power. By analyzing biomarkers or monitoring blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels (especially LDL cholesterol), risks can be identified and often reduced before they cause harm.

Your path to "longevity for the brain"

Your brain of tomorrow is shaped by what you do today. Own your health – start protecting your most important organ today. It's more adaptable than you think.

The scientific evidence is clear: the brain remains malleable throughout life, with our daily habits and lifestyle factors directly influencing neurobiological processes. Prevention, therefore, doesn't begin only in old age or at the first signs of symptoms, but takes place every day in our daily lives – through the decisions we continuously make.

Regular exercise, a healthy diet and sufficient sleep, social contacts and mental activity all work together and have a long-term impact on brain health.

*Read more in this blog article