Nine out of ten want to know their brain disease risk

Would you take a simple brain health test to learn about your risk of developing a brain disease if you could?? According to the global brain health survey, 91 per cent of those questioned would.

We asked this question to over 27,500 people in the global brain health survey conducted by the Lifebrain project. The survey is led by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in collaboration with the University of Oslo.

The main findings were:

• 91 per cent of respondents would definitely or probably take a simple test to learn about the risk of developing a brain disease.
• 86 per cent would do so even if the disease could not be prevented or treated.

The findings have been published in Frontiers in Public Health.

It is surprising that so many people are willing to be tested for future brain diseases, even though it is not always possible to delay onset or cure them, such as Alzheimer's disease. However, this finding shows that people strongly believe that lifestyle affects brain health.

Dr. Rebecca Bruu Carver, lead author of the study at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

The term brain health has been adopted in the last ten years. Good brain health is about mental well-being and the ability to remember, learn, plan and concentrate.

Brain health is affected by various diseases and disorders. One in three will develop a brain disease or disorder during their lifetime, such as dementia, stroke, Parkinson's disease, depression, anxiety or schizophrenia. Research shows that it is possible, to some degree, to prevent brain diseases through diet, physical activity and sleep.

It is positive that so many respondents would change their lifestyle if they discovered they are at risk of developing a brain disease. However, we know from previous research that what people say and what they actually do can be two different things.

Dr Rebecca Bruu Carver.

The brain health survey "The Global Brain Health Survey" has been part of the EU research project "Lifebrain" in the Horizon2020 program and was carried out in collaboration with the University of Oslo. The questionnaire was available in 14 languages ​​and the answers came from participants in 76 countries.

View Full Article