Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are NOT inevitable.
Discover how you can build a better brain at any age.

Are you worried about developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease?

  • Are you starting to experience memory lapses?
  • Have you or someone you love been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s?
  • Are you afraid that you’re at risk of dementia because it runs in your family?
  • Are you looking for advice on how to care for someone who has dementia or Alzheimer’s?
  • Do you work in Aged Care?
  • Do you want to stay as sharp at age 90 as you were at age 30?

Regardless of your genes, your family history or your diagnosis,
you can improve the functioning of your brain.

How do you want to start Boosting Your Brain?

Read the Books

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Upon reading your book I immediately felt a great sense of hope filling the void left by helplessness and fear. It’s now bristling with post-its! I wrote my PhD on women’s autobiographies, so appreciate the deft weaving in of anecdotes and reflections that make your story, and your father’s, so vivid and moving. Thank you also for your inspiring presentation. Warmest regards and much gratitude,

Dr Jane Sloan

The book is marvellous! I am a 1965 MBBS from Sydney University so the book is relevant for me and my Med School friends. It is a joy to read and I shall recommend it to my friends and neighbours.

Katherine

Your book has changed my life. It gave me lots of laughs. You’ve given me hope and courage to tackle a situation I thought would bring nothing but doom and deterioration. Now I look for the opportunities to learn and grow. Thank you so much.

Donna

Play the Card Games

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So much information that is easy to apply to everyday actions.

Carmen

I gave your Wild Cards to my grandmother because she wasn’t able to attend your presentation and they’ve been such a great reminder of all the concepts you talked about. She keeps them on her bedside table and is really enjoying putting the suggestions into practice to improve her quality of life. Thank you for creating such a great resource.

Natasha

What a fun way to learn and remember that we really can boost our brain through simple daily actions. Thank you!

Jillian

Subscribe to Dr Helena’s Blog

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Thank you so much for your thoughtful words. Your insights have helped me find my feet and feel more grounded in this journey. Your comment that your Dad and you are ‘living and learning together’ really got me.  What a profoundly graceful way to negotiate this journey rather than the current stress, anxiety and overwhelm at not knowing. Thank you for sharing that insight, it is so valuable as a touchstone and/or compass to orient the way forward. 

Maxeen

I find most people’s blogs a big yawn and I give them a miss but yours are truly inspiring and informative. I so look forward to receiving them. Thank you for brightening up my week.

Elaine

Thank you for your moving and motivating blogs. I get so much out of them.

Simone

Brilliant and very useful.

John

Hear Dr Helena speak

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On behalf of the Dementia Partnership Project I just wanted to say such a big thank you for making the trip to Perth to present at our symposium on Tuesday. I have been sitting here reading the feedback forms and the crowd LOVED your presentation. You have a real gift for communicating your message in an approachable yet powerful way. Thank you again for your support of our event – it was fantastic to meet you and hopefully we will cross paths again in the future!

Caris Jones, Senior Consultant, Alzheimer’s WA

I have had so much great feedback from our members who heard Helena speak yesterday that I thought I would let you know. They were most impressed with the presentation and the way it was delivered. ‘Best speaker we have ever had’ were most of the comments. Thank you again.

Bob Parker, Programme Officer, Mount Colah Mixed Probus Club

Our speaker Helena Popovic was one of the most charming eloquent speakers we have ever had. She kept our members spell-bound and told us how to achieve peak performance by boosting our brain and turning stress into success. A terrific guest speaker that we want to come back again.

National Seniors, Sydney East, May 2018

What is dementia?

The word dementia refers to more than 100 different diseases of the brain. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. It accounts for 50-70% of cases of dementia worldwide. The symptoms of dementia vary widely, depending on the region of the brain that is affected.

The most common symptoms include:

  • Progressive loss of memory (especially forgetting recent events)
  • Finding it difficult to focus and concentrate
  • Becoming easily confused, disoriented and distracted
  • Apathy and social withdrawal
  • Inability to learn new things
  • Changes in personality
  • Problems with speech, language or comprehension
  • Other signs of the brain not functioning properly

A personal word from Dr Helena

When my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2009, I flew from my home in Brisbane to look after her in Sydney. It was a complete shock as she was a non-smoker with no hint of impending illness. I was a medical doctor with a particular focus on brain health and prevention of dementia. To my alarm, I soon noticed that my 78 year old father was showing signs of dementia but my parents had ‘not wanted to worry’ me so they failed to mention this minor detail. This is a typical response to dementia: fear and denial.

Mum passed away 15 months later on 7th February 2010 and I stayed in Sydney to take care of my father. Thus began our adventure with dementia. Dad spent the remaining 10 years of his life engaged in mentally, physically and socially stimulating activities. For his 80th Birthday I bought him his first-ever gym membership (click here for photos) and much to his delight, he increased his musculature, strength and fitness by doing 3 sessions per week. The physical exercise also improved his memory and overall brain function. Together we did Meals on Wheels volunteer work, travelled oversees, attended Probus meetings and did bus trips around Australia. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on 6th March 2019.

My father, along with my patients and audiences, is living proof that it’s never too late to make a positive difference to a condition that is deemed incurable. In both my professional and personal experience, I have seen that education is more powerful than medication. We are not passive victims of our genes. The emerging field of neuroplasticity has shown that the brain can be changed. We can grow new cells, new connections and new circuits and we play an active role in how our brains develop throughout our lives. However, few people realise the extent to which their diet, exercise habits, sleep quality, stress levels, relationships, social interactions, mental challenges and many other lifestyle choices influence the health of their brain.

I am passionate about giving you the information you need to:

  • protect yourself from all forms of dementia especially Alzheimer’s disease
  • help others who have been diagnosed with dementia.

That’s why I created this website and wrote my books.

Don’t let numbers dictate your life!

Seven in 10 Australians are affected by dementia in some way – either because they have dementia themselves or someone close to them does.

Over 10 people are diagnosed with dementia every hour and almost 1.5 million Australians are involved in the care of someone with dementia.

Dementia is the leading cause of death in Australian women and 2nd leading cause in men. There are currently 450 000 people living with dementia and this number is increasing by 250 people every day.

THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE CASE.

Current research indicates that we can more than halve our rate of developing dementia if we address lifestyle factors. The tragedy is that most people are not aware of this.

In 2018 dementia cost Australia $15 billion. By 2025 it is predicted to increase to almost $19 billion in today’s dollars and by 2056 to $37 billion. This will blow out our health budget but we can reverse this trajectory by proactively looking after our brains.

You can start to Boost Your Brain, Defy Dementia and Avoid Alzheimer’s right now by:

Downloading your Free Guide to Understanding Dementia here
Reading my blogs here
Buying my books here
Attending an event here

Contact Us

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