Learning a new skill that you enjoy is vital

has not been shown in humans yet, but we should be giving ourselves new challenges as we get older.’

Professor Lynch acknowledges that for some this might be a daunting task, but it’s a worthwhile one. So if you’re thinking of spending your retirement drinking tea nestled in your favourite armchair, you should think again.

‘It is hard at that stage of life when we think we should be sitting back and not doing much, Professor Lynch says. ‘But coming up to retirement we should plan this time of life along the lines of a) I’m retiring and b) what am I going to do next?

‘Women are generally better at this than men, but we need to have a concept of what will be a new challenge for us at the age of 65 and we should think about something new to do at that stage. Even if you want to learn Ancient Greek or take up bridge or bowling, we should be doing this at retirement age. Every now and again shuffle the pack, give the brain something else to think about and away we go.’

Exercise is, of course, important, particularly because your risk of getting Alzheimer’s increases if you have had a stroke and your risk of having a stroke increases if you have Alzheimer’s.

‘You do have to break into a sweat and do the aerobic stuff,’ Professor Lynch explains. ‘I think you have to find something you enjoy doing to stay motivated. That is difficult as it varies from person to person.’

Along with other colleagues across the world, Professor Lynch is involved in examining how different forms of exercise can help patients with neurological conditions.

AN ITALIAN neurologist set up an Irish dancing treatment for his patients with Parkinson’s in 2012. The Black Sheep Irish Dancing School in Venice had Parkinson’s patients doing Irish dancing twice a week, instead of traditional physiotherapy on the treadmill.

‘It’s not just physical activity — because you’re thinking about your steps and looking after your partner in Irish dancing as well, you are learning a new task that is a novelty for the brain,’ Professor Lynch says. ‘The study showed it was at least as good as traditional physiotherapy — we couldn’t show that it was better because we would probably have needed a larger study.

‘But certainly there was a trend to show that doing something you enjoy as a challenge was good. There was huge social interaction, which was important for mind and body too.’

Another extremely important factor is getting a good night’s sleep.‘There is an increasing amount of evidence that during sleep we wash and clear our brain of all the bits of crud and debris that accumulate during the day,’ Professor Lynch explains.

‘The protein that becomes abnormal in Alzheimer’s patients is the amyloid protein and parallel to that, another protein called Tau. There is good data to show that when we sleep at night, the amyloid protein is washed out of our brain and cleared. It seems to accumulate during the day but we can wash it out overnight. That is important.

‘Intriguingly Margaret Thatcher often said she got only three or four hours of sleep a night. And she got Alzheimer’s.’

Nutrition is also important and scientists in Cork are making strides in the area of connecting gut health with brain health.

‘The diet aspect is becoming more and more interesting,’ Professor Lynch says. ‘Work has been going on, particularly in Cork, on bioflora. It was clear a decade ago that Parkinson’s patients have a problem with constipation and changing bowel habits before they get the symptoms of the disease.

‘These predate it and seem to herald it, as do some other symptoms. It has struck me for a while that this is an important part of the condition and it is important to try and treat it.

Researchers at UCC have discovered that the microbiotics in our guts are different in those with Parkinson’s compared to those who don’t have the disease. This may be very important about how we feel, how we absorb [pills], and the same applies in Alzheimer’s.

‘So will probiotics help ParkinThis son’s or Alzheimer’s? We don’t know that for definite yet, but it does open up another avenue of therapy worth looking at.’

As with most conditions, the earlier a neurological disorder is discovered, the more doctors can do to help the patient improve or have a better quality of life.

‘The Neurological Alliance is highlighting this as a difficult challenge,’ Professor Lynch says. ‘We know we are doing better, but we are seeing two to three-fold the number of patients in clinics than we were eight or nine years ago.

‘We anticipated this and flagged it, saying we were dealing with the tip of the iceberg ten years ago and that we would see more people getting appropriately referred and that has happened.

‘Multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, stroke, Parkinson’s — there are medications that can help but there are other treatments like, for example, deep brain stimulation and neurosurgery for the brain in Parkinson’s sufferers, where you can get rid of the tremor, which is highly effective. Our therapeutic options have increased — there is a demand for them and the challenge is meeting that demand.’

The NAI is encouraging the public to lobby their local TDs for immediate investment in neurology services. To lobby your local TD visit http://www.nai.ie/go/neurology_ campaign/get_involved