Abstracts by keywords: rituals
The increasing aging of society has led to an increase in age-related diseases in recent years. This particularly includes dementia. The term comes from Latin and describes the absence (prefix: de-) of the ability to think (suffix: -mens). “Dementia” literally means “without reason”. Dementia is not only accompanied by cognitive and mnestic losses, but also by the loss of basic orientation and everyday skills that were previously taken for granted (Stoffers 2016: 7). The term dementia does not include a specific disease, but rather an acquired condition caused by organic brain damage (Stoffers 2016: 8). In Germany, there are currently around 1.7 million people living with a diagnosis of dementia (Thyrian et al. 2020: n.p.), with Alzheimer's dementia making up the majority of the diseases with around 60% (Stoffers 2016: 9). So far there is little knowledge regarding the triggering risk factors, but different expert assessments and study notes show (at different levels of evidence) that different prevention approaches could be useful for avoiding dementia. These include, among other things, increasing exercise behavior, quitting smoking, or reducing alcohol consumption (WHO 2019: xii-xiii). Social contacts as well as intensive cultural and sporting activity also appear to be protective factors against the development of dementia (Förstl, Förstl 2020: n.p.).