00:00I was a psychiatrist mainly interested in depression and mood disorders and then
00:08in 1979 my father died at the age of 59 with Alzheimer's disease and it had a
00:16big effect on me. I got involved with setting up the Alzheimer's Association
00:20now called Dementia Australia, became involved in research and now in
00:26prevention of dementia as well and continuing to work clinically. In 2012
00:32Professor Paminder Sashtev and I established the Centre for Healthy Brain
00:36Ageing or CHIBA at University of New South Wales. There were just two of us who
00:42did this and now we have over 60 people all focusing on those different aspects
00:47looking at the genetics, looking at the changes in the proteins in the blood,
00:51looking at brain imaging, looking at the social determinants of health and
00:56and we are also involved in helping people manage the behavioural changes that
01:01occur in dementia. Dementia is a national health priority. There are over 430,000
01:07people with dementia in Australia now and with the ageing of our society that's set
01:13to double by mid-century and we can do something about that. By attending to
01:19lifestyle risk factors we can improve people's cognition and delay the onset of
01:25dementia. We need a national program, a healthy brain promotion program for all
01:33Australians with awareness, with online coaching, with techniques for people to
01:40improve their brain health. Dementia has been an area of darkness and we
01:48shouldn't protest about the darkness, we should light a candle. I would like to
01:54inspire people to think about their brain health throughout their life. Don't wait
02:00till you're getting old. Plan for it in the future and it's what you do
02:04throughout your life will have a major impact on your brain health.
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