Avoiding these midlife risk factors could add 13 dementia-free years |
A 26-year analysis of more than 12,000 participants found that people who avoided smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure between their mid-40s and early 70s stayed dementia-free for around 13 years longer than those with all three conditions. Participants with all three risk factors were 2.69 times more likely to develop dementia than those with none.
“High blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking can damage blood vessels, increase inflammation, and reduce the brain’s resilience over time,” said Dung Trinh, MD, an internist at MemorialCare Medical Group, who was not involved in the study
The researchers also found that although women typically lived longer without dementia than men, their lifetime dementia risk was actually higher, at around 40% versus 33% for men.
Senior investigator Josef Coresh urged early action, noting that diabetes diagnosed before age 60 carries substantially more dementia risk than onset of the condition at age 65. What remains less clear is how these three factors interact with the many other modifiable risks that the 2024 Lancet Commission estimated account for nearly half of all dementia cases.
To learn more about the midlife factors behind the 13-year gap, jump to " Avoiding 3 risk factors in midlife could add 13 dementia-free years."
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