{"id":670745,"date":"2026-01-03T08:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T08:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/670745\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T08:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T08:10:19","slug":"how-bringing-up-daughters-could-help-protect-you-from-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/670745\/","title":{"rendered":"How bringing up daughters could help protect you from dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>For confidential advice, call Alzheimer&#8217;s Society&#8217;s Dementia Support Line on 0333 150 3456\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Alzheimer&#8217;s Society&#8217;s<a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" class=\"\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/alzheimers.org.uk\/symptoms\"> symptoms checker <\/a>can help spot the signs of dementia\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-3982\/pat-hagan.html\" class=\"author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PAT HAGAN &#8211; REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Published:  20:27 EST, 2 January 2026   |  Updated:  21:34 EST, 2 January 2026   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Raising daughters could reduce the risk of dementia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Scientists have found older parents with daughters have sharper minds and better memories than those who have sons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">They believe this is because daughters tend to give better emotional support to parents which reduces their social isolation \u2013 a major risk factor for the incurable condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Nearly one million people in the UK have dementia and it is the country&#8217;s biggest killer, claiming more than 75,000 lives a year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Loneliness and lack of family support are known to add to the risks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Researchers at Hohai University in <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/china\/index.html\" id=\"mol-cc5e4fa0-e83c-11f0-a7eb-113a543887c7\" rel=\"noopener\">China<\/a> analysed data on the cognitive function of hundreds of older people who took part in a health study in 2018.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Declining cognitive ability is a warning sign dementia could be on its way. Key signs include difficulty processing information, poor attention span and fading memory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The study analysed brain activity data from elderly parents and compared how many sons and daughters they had.<\/p>\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-f40d0f466e2b9499\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105194281-15430437-image-a-35_1767403502137.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Scientists believe daughters tend to give better emotional support to parents which reduces their social isolation \u00bf a major risk factor for the incurable condition (stock photo)\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>  <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Scientists believe daughters tend to give better emotional support to parents which reduces their social isolation \u2013 a major risk factor for the incurable condition (stock photo)<\/p>\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-30270d2bf954c10a\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105194283-15430437-image-a-36_1767403504582.jpg\" height=\"363\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Loneliness and lack of family support are known to add to the risks of dementia (stock photo)\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>  <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Loneliness and lack of family support are known to add to the risks of dementia (stock photo)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Findings published in the Journal of Women and Ageing found older parents who raised daughters rather than sons scored significantly higher for brain health.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">And the greatest benefits were seen in families with just one daughter, possibly because there is greater continuity of care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The researchers said: &#8216;Daughters improve their parents&#8217; cognitive level by providing relatively more emotional support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;And the effect on ageing mothers&#8217; cognitive abilities is stronger than that on the ageing father.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Logo\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/alzheimer_society.png\" width=\"187\" style=\"height:28px;width:187px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Everyone experiences dementia differently.  Use this checklist to help you make a note of your symptoms before you talk to your GP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The findings come as the Daily Mail has partnered with Alzheimer&#8217;s Society in a drive to beat dementia. The Defeating Dementia campaign aims to raise awareness of the disease in an effort to increase early diagnosis, boost research and improve care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The NHS aims to identify at least two in three people living with the disease so they can get the help and treatment they need.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-8784a70fec5faffb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/104494529-15430437-image-a-1_1767400721383.jpg\" height=\"236\" width=\"306\" alt=\"\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But rates collapsed during the pandemic and have never recovered, leaving tens of thousands to struggle alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Last week researchers suggested life-changing treatments for the disease could emerge in the next five to ten years \u2013 and it could even be cured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Professor Tara Spires-Jones, director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, said: &#8216;I&#8217;m very optimistic that in the short term we will have treatments that can meaningfully slow or stop disease progression.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;In the long term we should be able to prevent dementia entirely and hopefully we&#8217;ll get to a cure.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        How bringing up daughters could help protect you from dementia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For confidential advice, call Alzheimer&#8217;s Society&#8217;s Dementia Support Line on 0333 150 3456\u00a0 Alzheimer&#8217;s Society&#8217;s symptoms checker can&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1395,92,105,211,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-670745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-nhs","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115830156629516131","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}