3 Factors To Avoid In Midlife For More Dementia-Free Years

We still don’t know exactly what causes types of dementia like Alzheimer’s disease. But some evidence suggests that modifiable risk factors can increase our odds pretty considerably.

The Lancet’s Commission on dementia, for instance, found that up to 45% of a person’s risk could be determined by lifestyle factors.

And a new paper published in Neurology Open Access has linked avoiding three habits in middle age to up to 13 years more dementia-free life.

“Our findings argue that people need to actively avert these factors in midlife as a strategy for preserving brain health for more than a decade,” said Dr Josef Coresh, the study’s senior investigator and founding director of the Optimal Aging Institute.

This research looked at 12,409 adults who were part of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, which began in 1986.

Participants’ average age was 56 at the start of the study, and none of them had dementia.

They were all tested for three factors:

1. high blood pressure,
2. smoking, and
3. diabetes.

Then, the scientists followed participants for 26 years to find out who got dementia and who didn’t.

By the end of the study, 3,008 people had gone on to develop dementia, and 5,238 people had died without developing the condition.

People with none of the three risk factors researchers looked for at the start of the study enjoyed 13 more dementia-free years compared to those who had them, the study found.

That meant those with no risk factors lived 30 years without dementia after the study’s start, compared to 17 years for those with them.

Untreated high blood pressure has been linked to an increased risk of dementia multiple times in the past, though we know that people who take appropriate medication for the condition actually seem to have a lower risk of dementia than those who don’t.

Demographics seemed to affect this result, however. Women with all three risk factors tended to go 18.1 years after the start point without dementia, whereas for men with all three risk factors, that shrank to 16.6 years.

And Black participants with high blood pressure and diabetes who also smoked typically had 16 dementia-free years from the start point, whereas their white counterparts with the same risk factors went almost 20 years without developing the condition.

Dr Coresh said: “These results suggest that vascular risk reduction may benefit all groups, but that certain populations, such as Black adults, may especially benefit from targeted prevention efforts.

“Hopefully, these results will encourage people to stop smoking and watch their vascular health closely from age 48 on.”