Living well with dementia meant managing my brain health

Friday, 7 March 2025Personal stories

Bill Yeates takes an holistic approach to brain health

When Bill was diagnosed with younger onset Alzheimer’s disease at just 59, he withdrew from those around him for the first few months as he processed the news.

“The diagnosis had a devastating impact on me,” Bill said.

However, a chance rugby trip to Japan with friends proved to be a transformative experience that pulled him out of his slump.

“I came back completely different,” Bill said. “I realised that if I was going to manage my diagnosis, I had to learn how to live well with my dementia and that meant managing my brain health.”

In the six years since that realisation Bill has taken a holistic, person-centred approach to his brain health, focusing on mind, body, heart and soul.

He is a competitive masters swimmer, enjoys riding his e-bike and walks his dog on the beach most mornings.

As well as regular physical activity he follows a mostly Mediterranean diet, keeps mentally stimulated by playing sudoku and mahjong, and gets regular medical check-ups, including blood, hearing and eye tests.

“If you want to build a better life, a life that has meaning in the time that remains, it’s important to do the things you enjoy,” Bill said.

Bill also works with an exercise physiologist who has developed a neuro-cognitive training program to help him with balance, coordination and reflexes.

“When I’m really focusing on my brain health I feel so much better,” he said.

“For me it’s about resilience and challenging myself – I try to step out of my comfort zone and do things people wouldn’t expect me to do.”

One of the best pieces of advice that Bill, a former deputy principal, received, came from one of his past students.

“She told me that no matter how difficult things get, to ‘just keep swimming’ and don’t give up and that has become my guiding principle,” Bill said.

“I’m trying to live life to the full”

Like Bill, Peter has also chosen to focus on living well following his diagnosis with younger onset dementia.

“I’m trying to live life to the full – playing golf, spending time with my family and friends and getting out into the world,” Peter said. “I didn’t want to sit in the cold dark corners of my diagnosis, I’m not that type of person.”

In 2024 the Lancet Commission identified 14 modifiable risk factors which, if addressed effectively, could reduce dementia incidence globally by 45 per cent.

One of those risk factors was hearing loss, something of particular relevance to Peter.

“It was a shock to learn that hearing loss could contribute to dementia, especially as I’ve lived with an incurable hearing disorder since 2005,” Peter said.

“If we can get the message out there, to help people identify small changes that they can make in their every day – we might just save a life.”

Modifiable risk factors for dementia

While we cannot change getting older, genetics or family history, scientific research shows that looking after our brain health can make a big difference to reducing or delaying the risk of developing dementia.

Reducing the risk of dementia not only increases the number of healthy years of life it also supports people diagnosed with dementia to live as well as possible.

The 2024 Lancet Commission on the prevention, treatment and care of dementia listed 14 modifiable risk factors that could reduce the risk of dementia: