Are you running the risk of dementia?

If newspaper reports from the past 7 days are to be believed, women who had low IQ as children, now have high cholesterol and blood pressure and regularly eat tofu are destined to be struck down with dementia.

Meanwhile, men over the age of 90 who eat plenty of tomatoes and fish are in great shape to avoid the condition.

Some of it we know already, such as the memory benefits provided by fish; others are new. But the constant reportage makes for information overload. Throw in recent genetic breakthroughs and you’d think we’re on the cusp of a genuine breakthrough in treating the disease.

The problem is, we’re constantly on the cusp – and waiting for a cure for Alzheimer’s is like waiting for a bus that’ll never arrive. Although I’d like to be proved wrong.

More potential causes will come and go over the next few weeks. We’ll continue to be told what is good and bad for us to eat – potentially scary if you’ve spent a lifetime eating the ‘wrong’ food – and never even known.

Take the latest culprit, tofu. A supposed ‘superfood’ - many healthy and committed vegetarians swear by it – yet now their being told it could cause dementia.

This theory may be debunked over time, while the search for other causes continues relentlessly.

There’s no doubt such findings are needed - but shouldn’t the boffins keep the results to themselves until they find a cure? Or at least make a genuine breakthrough?
By Robert Mair