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Venue
We meet at The Winchester Club (SO23 7AB), which is the large white building at the back of the Worthy Lane Car Park. All talks begin at 7.30pm unless stated otherwise.
Our YouTube Channel has recordings of some past talks.
Monday 20th May
“Does self-improvement really prevent dementia?”
Prof Klaus Ebmeier
Artwork credit: artcookstudio via Vecteezy
Professor Ebmeier asks, whether ‘self-improvement activities’ can prevent the occurrence of dementia or reduce its likelihood.
We are bombarded daily with advice ranging from following healthy diets to avoiding loneliness, from using hearing aids to not being depressed, all said to reduce the risk of dementia. Claims are that 40% of dementia cases can be prevented by removing ‘modifiable risks’. What are these claims based on and how can we decide if they are true? Are we more responsible for our ill health than we think? Do we know which public policies to support to minimise dementia risk? How early in life should we prepare, and is there a point when any intervention comes too late? As always with science, there are limits to what we can know for sure, and I will try to explain these limits as far as preventing dementia is concerned to help you navigate the continuing media onslaught.
Professor Klaus Ebmeier
Klaus Ebmeier is the Foundation Chair of Old Age Psychiatry in Oxford (now in his 18th year) after cutting his teeth as a Clinical Scientist at the Medical Research Council Brain Metabolism Unit, and then as Chair of Psychiatry in Edinburgh. At the last count, the Neurobiology of Ageing Group, which Klaus founded on his arrival in Oxford in 2006 has published 1675 scientific papers. Klaus’ research focuses on brain-behaviour relationships in ageing (research into ageing and dementia) and psychiatry of old age (cognitive impairment and depression).
Klaus is also a Professorial Fellow at Linacre College Oxford, and as an Old Age Psychiatrist, runs a memory clinic for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust in Central Oxfordshire.