Saga Magazine – August 2018

ALAMY, GETTY

Medical notes

Health

66 SAGA.CO.UK/AUG-MAG I^2018

Help for dry eyes

Watery eyes could actually be due

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Eye Spray. Containing sea

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also been shown to moisturise

and soothe eyelids and boost

skin elasticity. £15.99 Boots

Briskly does it

It’s not the number of steps

you walk but walking briskly

that counts, says Public

Health England. Aim for

an intensity that makes

you breathe faster and raises

your heart rate.

Sounds good

Reminiscing is a powerful way to help

people with dementia. Take a loved one on

a journey through the history of the past

century with the BBC’s Reminiscence

Archive, a website featuring around 1,000

videos and sound clips aimed to trigger

memories. Subjects range from The Goon

Show to Spitfi res taking off and much more.

Visit remarc.bbcrewind.co.uk/index.html.

factors including smoking, high

blood pressure, diabetes and

poor diet/sedentary lifestyle.

You are right that cholesterol

is important to the brain. It

contains a higher proportion of

the lipid than any other organ

in the body – indeed the brain

has its own cholesterol

manufacturing and recycling

plant to meet its needs. And the

machinery in this plant is

partially jammed by the actions

of statins that cross into the

brain (which the most

commonly used types,

atorvastatin and simvastatin,

both do) so there is the potential

for disruption.

Some people on statins do

complain of mental fogging, or

that their memory is not so

reliable. However, a recent

review of the evidence into

statins’ relationship with

dementia, published earlier this

year, came to a reassuring

conclusion. Overall,

it found that

people taking

a daily statin

are less likely

to go on to

develop

Alzheimer’s

disease, the

most common

form of dementia.

thrombosis). So, you should go

for the lowest dose patch or

gel that will control your hot

fl ushes and night sweats.

Q

You recently advised

readers not to ignore their

yearly invitation to send in

samples for bowel cancer

screening. I am in my eighties

and have never received such a

letter. I live in Stockport – does

it depend upon where you live?

A

No, the screening

programme operates

across the whole UK. Everyone

between the ages of 60 and 74

(50 and 7 4 in Scotland) should

be sent information about this.

However, if you were over 7 4 at

the time the roll-out of the

programme was completed (at

the end of 2009) you would not

have received one.

If you’re 7 5 or over you can

still take part, but need to

request a testing kit by calling

the relevant Bowel Cancer

Screening Helpline.

For England, 0800 707 6060;

Wales, 0800 294 3370;

Scotland, 0800 012 1833;

N Ireland, 0800 015 2514.

Q

Do statins increase or

decrease the chances of

developing dementia? I have

had heart trouble and my GP

has started me on atorvastatin.

However, I have read that

cholesterol is important for

normal brain function and that

statins can make people

forgetful. Is what’s good for

my heart going to damage

my brain at all?

A

Actually, as a general rule

in medicine, what’s good

for your heart is good for your

brain – and vice versa. And the

maxim certainly applies to risk

Extra online

For more questions

answered, go to

saga.co.uk/porter

Have a question?

Email [email protected]

or write to Dr Mark Porter at the

address on p7. He can’t reply

individually but will respond to

queries on this page

Good to know

By Patsy Westcott