‘SIMPLE lifestyle changes’ which could save more than 80,000 people a year from dementia are easier said than done, according to an East Lancashire health campaigner.

New research, which will be presented to the World Innovation Summit for Health next year, found evidence that deterioration of the brain starts when a person is in their late forties.

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The summit’s chairman, former Labour health minister Lord Darzi, said people should act quickly to change their diet, exercise and stimulate their brains through puzzles. But Russ McLean, chairman of the Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group, said many residents here would struggle to make such adaptations.

Mr McLean said: “This is all well and good for Lord Darzi, but try telling this to patients in East Lancashire, many of whom are living on the breadline.”

Some 850,000 people will have dementia in the UK by next year, according to the Alzheimer’s Society.

Speaking in the Daily Telegraph, which has seen the research, Lord Darzi said: “The degenerative brain condition that strips sufferers of their dignity and humanity is among the most feared of all those that afflict our species. It is one of the greatest health challenges we face.

“At an individual level we need to look after our brains – sharpen those chess skills, pick up that crossword and solve that puzzle.

“A healthy diet, avoiding obesity and exercise are all important to brain health because what is good for our hearts is also good for our heads.”

According to the Telegraph, The report will suggest that each year, 80,294 cases of dementia in Britain could be prevented by lifestyle changes.

Half of such cases might be avoided if action was taken to reduce blood pressure in mid-life, by adopting a healthy diet and exercise, it added.

Type 2 diabetes is said to be responsible for more than one-third of cases.

Lord Darzi said the results marked a ‘significant breakthrough’ in showing that individuals could curb the effects of dementia.