The Fight for Brain Health

If I were to ask for a virtual show of hands on how many of you know someone with a neurodegenerative disease, I bet almost every hand would go up. Personally, I would raise both - with a very heavy heart.

In 2018, my father was diagnosed with vascular dementia. Five years later, my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. While my father’s decline felt gradual—intertwined with the aftermath of earlier health issues - my mother’s decline has been rapid. Cherishing quality moments with her feels like a race against time. Watching the people you love deeply decline in this way is an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Sadly, I am far from alone in this journey.

A few years ago, I discovered the work of Dr. Daniel Amen, Psychiatrist and Founder of Amen Clinics in the US. His clinics specialise in brain SPECT scans to diagnose and treat our most complex organ. His work is nothing short of extraordinary and, most importantly, it brings hope. Before diving into his research and that of his colleagues, I assumed brain diseases were simply the result of bad luck. While genetics play a role for some, that percentage is far smaller than you might think - and even then, prevention goes a long way. I now understand how profoundly our lifestyle choices shape our cognitive reality, and how a preventative lifestyle can dramatically reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

I certified as a Brain Health Coach from Amen University in June 2025. Pictured here with Dr. Amen

Knowing the genetic risk of having dementia on both sides, I take my own brain health very seriously. And learning that dementia often begins developing 20 to 30 years before any noticeable symptoms appear was the final push I needed to go all-in on prevention.

The statistics underscore just how urgent this is:

• In the UK, dementia and Alzheimer’s are now among the leading causes of death.

• Someone in the UK develops dementia every three minutes.

• Predictions suggest that one in three children born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.

Our modern Western lifestyles are, in many ways, setting our brains up to fail. But the good news is that we can navigate around these pitfalls. When we know better, we can choose better.

This mission has become a deeply personal project for me, and I am dedicated to passing this knowledge on to anyone eager to protect their mind.

While I continue to take on one-to-one clients for in-person and online brain health coaching, I am expanding my reach through talks and workshops (available in both English and Danish, online and in-person). These sessions are fully tailored to the specific needs of each audience - brain health encompasses far more than ‘just’ preventing neurodegenerative disease.

I need your help: If you know of a company, a team, a wellness space, or an organisation that would benefit from learning how to protect their cognitive health, please spread the word or connect us.

When your brain works, you work. It’s really that simple.

Thank you for helping me spread this message. Together, hopefully, we can change the above statistics for ourselves and for future generations.