Professor Tim Spector

If I can do something to reverse this epidemic of dementia, then that's really motivating for me and encouraging.

Anyway, one reason why I've started to research the brain much more than I've done in the past.

It's increasing for a number of reasons.

So some of it is the age demographic.

So we're living longer, but we're not living healthier.

So our...

Health span hasn't really increased, but our lifespan has.

We're good at keeping elderly people alive longer.

That's definitely true, but there's also stats to show that it is increasing even when you take that into account so that more people are developing dementia than ever before, even when you account for the demographics and those other changes.

So it is a major worry, and I think it's one of the major fears that all of us have.

You know, obviously you've got cancer is one fear, but I think the other really bad one is ending up with dementia because nearly everyone knows somebody with dementia.

Yes.

I'd had, as you know, problems with my brain before.

I'd had a mini stroke back in 2011 and never really worked out the causes of that.

I knew I had some white spots in my brain.

I wanted to see if they were still there, if there were any signs of that.

And at the same time, I wanted to get a checkup to see was I likely to end up like my mother or not?

And did I have the genetic form of the disease?

Was it straightforward Alzheimer's or was it more the vascular type that my mother had?

Well, probably has.