A health professional delivered a captivating talk about ‘Ducking Dementia’ to a near 60-strong audience at Beechworth Library last week.

A medical practitioner for more than three decades, LifeVest’s Dr Rebecca McGowan has a passion for preventative health with a focus on dementia.

Dr McGowan provided practical advice for brain health to prevent cognitive decline, enhance memory and brain function as people age while also speaking about key dementia characteristics.

Dr McGowan also explained different types of dementia – a common brain condition affecting mood, memory, thinking and behaviour – with the most common type being Alzheimer's disease.

The former GP co-founded LifeVest and works as the medical director on a mission to empower people to take charge of their health.

According to a report released early last month by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) dementia is now the leading cause of death for Australians.

Dementia has been the leading cause of death for women in Australia.

Dr McGowan said one in three women in Australia are likely to be impacted by dementia.

The expert said evidence-based information indicates at least 15 different actions can be undertaken to reduce dementia risk.

“We know people can implement them in their daily life and my passion is to help people understand what they can do to reduce their risk,” she said.

“We also know that up to 50 per cent of all dementia cases may be prevented by introducing good healthy habits.

“What’s good for the heart is also generally good for the brain.

“If people are concerned about dementia, they should talk to their GP about some of the things they can do to bring their risk down.

“Some of these include lowering blood pressure as well as fats and sugar levels in their blood but also getting an assessment at the local the Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service (CDAMS) in Albury.”

Among others are nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress reduction as well as vision and hearing checks.

“It's never too early and it's never too late to bring in the prevention,” Dr McGowan said.

The presenter also requested information provided on the night be shared to family, friends, other people as well as between generations as dementia and prevention needs to be widely known.

Beechworth’s Jennie Gilliver said the engaging talk had been well-presented.

“Many people don’t think enough about their own health and Dr McGowan has given us a greater awareness of what can happen,” she said.

The North East’s Dr McGowan said with her business partner and LifeVest’s CEO Martin Prebble from Beechworth, the pair undertook health promotion across Australia.

“We've been working in Beechworth for more than 10 years,” she said.

Mr Prebble said Dr McGowan’s talks with humour and knowledge covered many subjects while making information simple to understand.

“Not enough people, know about the 15 things that you can do to help prevention at any age and dementia can tackle people in their 20s and 30s as well,” he said.

Beechworth librarian Julie said the session had been booked out as well as others around the shire.

“Providing reliable and trusted health information at the libraries is really important,” she said.

“Medical misinformation is a big problem, and the library wants to make sure we have accessible programs with quality information.”

The free event organised by Indigo Shire Council was also held at Chiltern, Rutherglen and Yackandandah libraries too.