We welcome the new article published last week in Lancet Regional Health Europe, proposing an international roadmap and guidelines for dementia prevention.
The article provides recommendations for so-called second-generation memory clinics, aimed to support at-risk individuals whose memory is still unaffected or slightly impaired, and who wish to preserve or improve it.
This is in line with the objectives of the new Brain Health clinic of Karolinska University Hospital, which will provide individualized lifestyle-focused support to persons with mild cognitive impairment.
The published dementia prevention guidelines have been developed by an international group of leading researcher, including Professor Miia Kivipelto, Karolinska Institutet, led by the University of Geneva and Geneva University Hospitals. The guidelines comprise risk assessment including lifestyle and gene factors, risk communication, and risk reduction, including lifestyle improvements, medicine administration, and cognitive enhancement.
In harmony with these guidelines, and scheduled to open in April 2023, Karolinska’s Brain Health clinic will use the FINGER model for its interventions, training, and coaching, complementing the hospital’s existing Memory clinic specialized in fast-track dementia diagnostics.
The positive effects of multidomain lifestyle interventions were first demonstrated in the FINGER study of 2015, led by Professor Kivipelto, as well as in follow-up FINGER-based trials.
