Meet the Dementia calculator, developed by the University of Ottawa, that can tell you your risk of developing the illness in the next five years.
Back in 2021, the University of Ottawa developed a dementia calculator called The Project Big Life Dementia Calculator.
The Dementia Calculator is a web-based tool designed to help community-dwelling adults 55 years of age and older better understand their brain health and the things that can do to reduce their risk of developing dementia.
The calculator lasts between five and ten minutes and it asks questions about the user (including age, marital status, education and ethnicity), their lifestyle behaviours (including alcohol consumption, smoking, diet and physical activity) and their physical functioning.
Using the answers, the calculator estimates the user’s brain age, a measure of how healthy their brain is and it predicts their risk of developing dementia in the next years.
The calculator also makes recommendations about what the user can do to improve their brain health and reduce their risk of developing dementia in the future.
The test does not cover genetic mutations as this risk factor was not collected in the data survey used to create the test.
Dr Sara Imarisio, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “A person’s risk of dementia is a complex mix of age, genetics, and lifestyle factors.
“Staying active and socially engaged are important ways to keep our brains healthy.
“There are lifestyle changes we can all adopt to boost our brain health and reduce the risk of dementia. As well as staying physically, socially and mentally active, the best evidence also suggests that eating healthily, maintains a healthy weight, controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, not smoking and only drinking within NHS guidelines, are all important.”
For more info and to take the test please visit: Big Life Dementia Calculator