Plans to make GPs tell middle-age patients their ‘brain age’ in the ‘war on dementia’ hit the front page of The Telegraph this morning.
The idea is to exploit people’s fear of dementia so as to scare them into quitting their unhealthy habits, but some are sceptical.
GPC deputy chair Dr Richard Vautrey told the paper: ‘Giving someone’s brain age in relation to their natural age doesn’t necessarily mean they are likely to develop dementia any earlier. We’d need to really look at the research evidence and understand if there is any basis for this supposition.’
Meanwhile, more evidence this morning that bariatric surgery cuts the risk of diabetes, reports the BBC.
Apparently research unveiled today in The Lancet, Diabetes and Endocrinology showed the operation was associated with 80% fewer new cases of type 2 diabetes.
And lastly middle-aged women should be encouraged to do half an hour of exercise every day to cut their risk of breast cancer, according to the Daily Mail.
Researchers found that doing half an hour’s vigorous activity a day – including squash or a spinning class – reduced the risk of breast cancer by a fifth.
