Dementia is characterized by confusion and intellectual impairment. The symptoms include loss of memory, judgment and reasoning, changes in behaviour and communication abilities. mood swings, depression, irritability, and trouble learning new things, making a decision or remembering facts. One in five people with dementia will become aggressive and can pose a danger to himself or herself or the people he or she lives with.. There is no cure only a progression of symptoms.

Understandably, the scientists are worried and studies are being done all over the world to find a reason and thereby a way to prevent the onset of symptoms. Diet is one factor researchers are investigating for its role in reducing the risk of dementia . One of the most important studies , running into millions of dollars, has been done by the Department of Preventive Medicine , Looma Linda University, CA called the Adventist Health Study. They looked into the incidence of dementia and intake of animal products and these were their findings :

”We investigated the relationship between animal product consumption and evidence of dementia in two studies. The first enrolled 272 California residents matched for age, sex, and zip code and a wide range of dietary exposure. The second included 2,984 subjects who resided within the Loma Linda, California area. The matched subjects who ate meat (including poultry and fish) were more than twice as likely to become demented as their vegetarian counterparts and the discrepancy was further widened depending on the number of years of past meat consumption. There was a trend towards delayed onset of dementia in vegetarians in both substudies. “