Half of the risk for developing dementia and Alzheimer’s is preventable and most of this risk relates to nutrition and lifestyle factors. Given that Alzheimer’s is not a reversible condition, the best hope for prevention lies in targeting those at risk, from age 50, and encouraging positive diet and lifestyle changes. We seek to test the effects of an e-based educational strategy for changing diet and behaviour on cognitive function after 1 and 2 years to help develop a model for effective action on Alzheimer’s prevention which could be applied nationally and globally.

Alzheimer's Research Project - Action on Alzheimer's:

Over 200,000 people have completed our Cognitive Function Test, which screens those people ‘at risk’ of developing Alzheimer’s. The good news is that Alzheimer’s is a preventable disease if you do the right things. Earlier this year, thanks to your donations, we launched an upgraded version of the test that can be done on tablets and also gives a personalized prevention action plan focusing on those elements that help to reduce risk.But we need to prove that making these changes really does stop or delay cognitive decline. By tracking people’s cognitive function and their variations in prevention risk factors we can do this. We also hope to learn how best to encourage positive prevention changes by e-based educational activities, with an aim to create a model that governments and health care providers can use to reach millions of people. That’s our next ‘Plan B’ project. This project will take three years. We need £59,700 to complete this aim and have so far raised £17,000; a further £42,700 is needed to continue our endeavours.

Read more about Food for the Brain's case for support which outlines further details about the project.