“Alzheimer's patients get very easily disorientated in unfamiliar environments. It means they have moments of hesitation before finding their bearings, but in the worst cases it can lead to people getting lost, injured or even dying. “We're also interested in how memory and orientation changes affect everyday life. For example, we are currently conducting a study titled DECISION, which investigates how these changes affect driving in ageing." A balanced diet such as the Mediterranean diet has been shown to reduce our risk of dementia - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto So, what can we do to reduce our risk of developing dementia? Michael outlines seven risk factors. “If you address those, there's strong scientific evidence that you can reduce your risk of dementia by up to 40pc.”