A Letter to Okashira About Brain Health | Shoichi Maeda, Dean of the Graduate School of Health Management

The other day, a piece of mail arrived with "Notice of Memory Loss Screening" written in large letters on the cover. The sender was the "Elderly Welfare Division, Dementia Policy Section" of my local municipality^*.

I don't think I'm usually a very suspicious person, but my first thought was that it might have been delivered to the wrong address. It is true that I occasionally forget manuscript deadlines or the start times of meetings. However, I didn't yet consider myself an "elderly person," and I had never thought of dementia as something that concerned me personally.

I set it on my desk for a moment, but when I looked at the address again, my name was definitely written there. While inwardly thinking, "What if there's no mistake in the recipient?" I timidly checked the contents, and unfortunately (?), it was not a mistake.

Working at a university, I interact with students of the younger generation on a daily basis. Perhaps because of that, I sometimes fall into the illusion that time has stopped somewhere back in my own student days. However, reality is different. Before I knew it, a quarter of a century had already passed since I completed graduate school.

"I see. I've reached the age where I must be conscious of dementia as part of my own health management," I thought, enveloped in a slightly strange sense of emotion.

As I read through the materials, they explained that they wanted people to think about brain health just as they do about physical health. Furthermore, it is important to be conscious of this not just after becoming elderly, but from one's prime working years.

The enclosed pamphlet listed 14 risk factors for dementia, including hearing loss, high blood pressure, obesity, lack of exercise, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, and smoking. Fortunately, none of these apply to me at the moment. Though, regarding the first one, "hearing loss," I suspect someone might point out that I hear what is convenient for me and fail to hear what is not!

By the way, about two weeks ago, an acquaintance in the United States informed me that they would be undergoing surgery for liver cancer. They said the tumor had shrunk through radiation therapy and reached a size where surgery was possible.

According to that acquaintance, "In the U.S., periodic health checkups are not as widespread as in Japan, and it's not uncommon for a disease to be advanced by the time it's discovered."

It goes without saying that early detection and early response are crucial for diseases and functional decline, whether they concern organs or the brain. The news from my acquaintance made me realize once again how precious the opportunity to confirm one's health status through checkups and screenings is. As was the case with me, there are likely many people, especially regarding brain health, who do not view it as their own problem even in their 50s.

According to the enclosed pamphlet, "It is said that by changing habits and behaviors that are risk factors for dementia, it may be possible to prevent or delay the onset of dementia by approximately 45%." If such a significant prevention and delay effect can be expected, there is no reason not to take action.

Due to my profession, my curiosity is endless regarding the basis for setting the target age, the effectiveness of the screening, and the cost-effectiveness. However, without worrying about the fine details, I think I will take this "Memory Loss Screening" myself, since it is a good opportunity.

Thinking that I must not forget to make an appointment, I stuck a memo saying "Appointment for Memory Loss Screening" on the monitor where I am writing this manuscript. —Though, there is a possibility I might forget the existence of the memo itself (which has actually happened before!). It seems the check of my brain has already begun, without waiting for the day of the screening.