“What’s good for the mind is good for the brain.” It’s a message from experts to reduce the risk of dementia, meaning following the rules of a healthy heart lifestyle. Regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, no smoking, etc.
However, the risk factors for dementia are complex. Lifestyle factors can be changed, but it is not possible to change the age, genetic composition, etc.
Also, while doctors can use tools to determine a patient’s risk of heart disease, there is currently no reliable tool to predict someone’s risk of dementia. Symptoms can be mistaken for other conditions. So how do we keep an eye on the cognitive decline of our loved ones? Recent research suggests surprising answers.
Subscribe to Kiplinger’s personal finances
Be smarter, better informed investors.
Save up to 74%
Sign up for Kiplinger’s free e-newsletter
Remember profits and prosperity with expert advice on investments, taxes, retirements, personal finances and more – directly to email.
Profit and prosperity with the advice of the best experts – directly to your email.
Our banking habits and household bills may provide early warning signs of cognitive decline, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open. If you warn these signs, it may allow timely interventions, including changes to heart-healthy lifestyles.
This is what the study has shown along with some details about the signs of changes in spending that you and your loved ones may want to look for.
Signs of financial inability
Researchers looked at anonymized bank records from more than 66,000 individuals. They also reviewed the banking habits of 16,742 people who ended up registering powers of attorney as a result of their financial inability to do so.
These records were compared to a control group of 50,226 people with no signs of loss of mental vision.
In this study, several very clear patterns were found. Specifically, among those who ultimately registered a power of attorney, the bank’s records showed that the individual:
You are more likely to report that your bank card is lost or that your bank card is more likely to request a resetless request, with one less login each month.
Those who experienced these changes were more likely to spend money on items related to increased time at home. For example, both electricity and gas bills increased over the five years leading up to the power of registering a power of attorney.
Researchers also found that differences in spending habits gradually increased as account holders approached the date the committee’s power was registered.
Cognitive decline and your loved one
The researchers have come to several important conclusions based on this data, including:
A decline in financial capacity can make a regression to the comfort of Homesaux, which has begun to separate from external activities and experience a lack of financial capacity, more susceptible to fraud.
Monitoring these behavioral changes may help researchers and individuals better detect some of the early signs of cognitive change. And it can encourage people experiencing signs of rejection to seek medical assistance or engage in actions that help to stem it.
Increase physical activity Omega-3sgeting increases a rich, balanced diet to meet rich friends and family.
Families who have noticed older loved ones who have far less interest in hobbies or travel should help them assess financial fitness and start protecting their finances before fraud occurs. Because, as the old saying goes, prevention is better than treatment.
