When I was around 18, I'd gone with my father to a client's house. He must've been around 60 or so. My father asked him to bring a particular file from an adjacent room. He went but came back without the file. He had forgotten which file he had to get. This happened 3 times. Finally, his wife brought it. The man was a heavy diabetic. That day I resolved to do my best to avoid diabetes as well as dementia. I have succeeded, but not 100 percent. Sometimes I forget who had told me something a couple of days back. Only the other day a man greeted me briefly and went on his way because he was in a hurry. It was ten minutes before I recalled his name. He's a prominent banker whom I've met many times and have even had lunch with him. As for diabetes, if I don't walk for a couple of days, my blood glucose level rises above the permissible limit.
I've done everything to stave off dementia. I read a lot, watch movies, play word games and do mental sums when I'm alone. The only thing I haven't done is socializing, because my educated friends have either died or gone abroad. At the age of 50, I even memorized some ayats from the Holy Koran.
But what really got me worried was hearing that my former tax advisor suddenly developed dementia. This person has been very sociable, has many friends and has done a lot of charity. He helped in setting up a charity hospital which now has branches all over the country. He's the last type of person who should have dementia. But you never know, maybe it's in his genes.
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