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.”

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how our walking speed aged 45 might be linked to our dementia risk – slower strollers may be more likely to experience faster brain ageing.

In general, changes in walking pace and gait may be considered a potential early sign of cognitive decline.

Now, a paper published in Neurology, comparing “super” vs “non-super” movers in their 80s, found that faster walkers might be as much as 50% less likely to develop cognitive decline than those who moved at a slower pace.

This study looked at almost 4,000 participants without dementia, all over the age of 80.

The individuals took a timed walking test, and the speediest 9% were deemed “super movers”. Despite a baseline age of roughly 84, they walked as quickly as most people do in their 50s.

After an average follow-up period of 4.4 years, “super movers” saw less memory loss, better cognition scores, and a lower likelihood of developing dementia.

Speaking to Medpage Today, study author Dr Joe Verghese said: “Super movers appear to represent an exceptional ageing phenotype, with a lower burden of disease, healthier lifestyles, and potentially younger biological age.”

Our biological age has to do with the “wear and tear happening inside the body at a cellular and molecular level,” and is different to the years we’ve been alive (chronological age).

Dr Verghese added that a “combination of favourable biology, preserved brain health, and lifelong healthy behaviours may help them maintain both mobility and cognition into late life”.

Some experts think that how long we can stand on one leg might be another sign of our dementia risk, partly because it combines our mental and physical abilities.

Speaking to MedPage, Dr Verghese said a similar process might be at play with walking.

“Walking reflects the integrated function of multiple systems, including the brain, cardiovascular system, muscles, and sensory pathways,” he said.

Screen legend Molly Ringwald is opening about one of her least favourite filming experiences.

Molly shot to fame in the 80s thanks to roles in the John Hughes classics The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Pretty In Pink, and continues to act on both the big and small screen.

Earlier this week, the Golden Globe nominee was a guest on the talk show Watch What Happens Live, where host Andy Cohen asked her to rank 10 of her past projects, choosing the teen drama series The Secret Life Of The American Teenager as her “worst” pick.

“That was it. The worst,” she recalled. “It was a hard [shoot]. I mean… OK, I love the cast. I love Shailene [Woodley, who played Molly’s on-screen daughter].

“[But] there was one person that was really difficult. And I’m not gonna say who that one person is. [But] they brought it down…”

The Secret Life Of The American Teenager ran for five seasons between 2008 and 2013, starring future Bafta and Emmy nominee Shailene Woodley as Amy, a teenage girl who discovers that she is pregnant.

Molly starred as Amy’s mum, Anne, while the cast also included the likes of Mark Derwin, Greg Finley and Steve Schirripa.

In recent years, Molly has been seen in action in the Ryan Murphy projects Monster and Feud, and made a guest appearance in The Bear back in 2022.

She’ll next be seen in action in the new rom-com One Night Only, featuring Callum Turner and Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro as two strangers who meet by chance on what happens to be the one night a year single people are allowed to have sex.

One Night Only – which arrives in cinemas worldwide on Friday – also features appearances from stars including Julia Fox, Este Haim, Pete Davidson, Ziwe and Maya Hawke.

The fourth stand-alone Spider-Man movie sees Tom Holland return as Peter Parker alongside Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds.

Picking up after the emotional events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter is left working alone after everyone he loves forgets his identity.

The 38th MCU film is full of Easter eggs and celebrity cameos, including one you might not have noticed at the time.

In the film, Naomi Watts voices E.V., Peter Parker’s J.A.R.V.I.S.-like AI helper. You can hear the Oscar nominee’s voice throughout the film, via Peter’s Spider-Man suit and computer, offering advice and data.

But this isn’t Tom and Naomi’s first time appearing in a project together.

Naomi previously played Tom’s mum in his live-action debut, the 2012 drama The Impossible.

Inspired by the real Indian Ocean disaster of 2004, Tom played the 12-year-old son of Naomi and Ewan McGregor.

Naomi earned an Oscar nomination for playing Dr. Maria Bennett, who joins her family on holiday in Thailand when a deadly tsunami causes area-wide devastation.

Following the new Spider-Man film’s release, Naomi posted some behind-the-scenes photos from her time on the movie alongside the message: “From playing your mom to playing your AI (100 percent human made).”

The two time Oscar-nominee then congratulated Tom, the film’s director Destin Daniel Cretton, and “the whole Spider-Man: Brand New Day team on the historic opening weekend”.

“Immensely proud to even just a tiny part of this incredible film!” the King Kong actor enthused.

Brand New Day also reunites Naomi and the director Destin Daniel Cretton, with whom she previously worked together on 2017’s The Glass Castle.

Naomi played the matriarch in the biographical drama, which also starred Sadie Sink, who makes her MCU debut in Brand New Day.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is currently out in cinemas.

Perez Hilton’s family has issued a statement following the media personality’s recent hospitalisation.

On Wednesday, it was reported that the celebrity blogger was receiving emergency medical care after a TikTok live-stream in which he appeared to be self-harming sparked concern.

A recent post on Perez’s blog, attributed to his “team and family” read: “Our family wants to once again thank everyone who has reached out with prayers, kind messages, and support for Perez. Your compassionate humanity during this heartbreaking time has meant more than words can express.

“This has been incredibly difficult and emotional for us, made even harder because very little information has been made available to our family. While we continue to wait for further updates, we remain hopeful.”

“We have also been able to confirm that Perez is able to communicate, which has given our family hope,” they continued. “We respectfully ask for your continued prayers, understanding, and grace as Perez continues to recover. We will share additional updates as we receive confirmed information and are able to do so.

“For now, we’re taking things one step at a time and keeping our focus where it belongs, on Perez and his recovery.”

“Again, thank you, truly, for all your support and compassion. We are so grateful,” they concluded.

Prior to that, they said in a previous post: “Many of you have reached out with concern for Perez, and we are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of love, support, and prayers. We can confirm that Perez is receiving medical care, and our family’s focus right now is on his well-being.

“We kindly ask that you respect Perez’s privacy, as well as the privacy of his family, during this difficult time. If and when we are able to share any updates, we will do so with everyone as soon as we can. Thank you for your compassion, understanding, and continued support.”

Perez – whose legal name is Mario Armando Lavandeira – first became an infamous public figure in the 2000s thanks to his celebrity news blog, where he frequently generated controversy due to his blunt, and often disparaging, commentary on the stars he wrote about.

In the 2010s, he said he’d be changing the tone of his writing, telling Ellen Degeneres on her daytime show that he wanted to “be part of the solution and not part of the problem”, after being called out by numerous celebrities.

He later told the New York Times: “What’s important for me is not being liked, but it is that people think I am no longer toxic to the world.”

In addition to his blogging career, Perez competed on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015, and is a father to a 13-year-old son and 11-year-old and eight-year-old daughters.

Over the last few months, Perez has experienced a number of health struggles, having been hospitalised with severe sepsis back in March.

• Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
• Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
• CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
• The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
• Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.

Nick Robinson blasted Rupert Lowe as “a man with money and a grudge and a social media account who airs his prejudices on X” as the pair clashed on Radio 4.

The BBC broadcaster hit out at the Restore Britain leader as the Today programme interview descended into a shouting match.

At one point, Lowe even refused to confirm that King Charles is a white Briton.

Lowe was elected as a Reform MP in 2024, but quit the party less than a year later amid allegations – which he denied – of workplace bullying.

In a dramatic move last weekend, he offered to work with Nigel Farage again to unite the right of British politics.

On the Today programme, Lowe repeatedly attacked the BBC and criticised Robinson for not reading Restore Britain’s own inquiry into the child grooming scandal.

The presenter then challenged Lowe on his claim that Britain is “hurtling towards becoming an Islamic country” and that white Britons will be in a minority in 2063.

He asked him: “Are you aware that by the definitions used in that particular report, King Charles is not a white Briton? Do you think he is a white Briton?”

Refusing to answer the question, Lowe said: “Many people have different interpretations of that, we can split hairs.”

Despite being asked the question several more times, Lowe repeatedly failed to answer it.

Robinson later told him: “Mr Lowe, you’re a man with money and a grudge and a social media account who airs his prejudices on X and gets a hearing because you’ve got the backing of Elon Musk.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

The Odyssey translator Emily Wilson, whose 2017 translation of the Ancient Greek text served as a major inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s recent adaptation, is once again taking aim at the film.

Last month, Wilson made headlines when she branded the screenplay Nolan’s star-studded movie – which received widespread praise from critics – “abysmal”, claiming she’d have been “ashamed” to have “written any part of this script” in a damning piece in the London Review Of Books.

After sparking debate, she has now penned a second piece, this time for The Atlantic, once again slating the Oscar winner’s latest work.

She claimed that, while Nolan’s film is “visually stunning”, the script is “emotionally empty”.

“The script grandly insists on the importance of human kindness, while the camera shows us an entirely different set of values,” she claimed..

“In these times of hatred and misinformation, we need more than the ‘apparent magic’ of deceptive images. We need art that is truthful about the costs and the necessity of compassion, and that recognises that a sense of spiritual superiority may not protect us from lies.”

She also claimed that Nolan’s Odyssey “is not interested in the social or psychological questions of how people deceive and are deceived”, instead claiming that his direction is more focussed on “logistics”.

“The script tells us loudly that people matter, but the camera shows us that what matters is the mechanical challenge of moving objects through space,” Wilson added.

Wilson is a classical studies professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Her work includes a popular translation of Homer’s The Odyssey, published in 2017, which Nolan has stated helped him when putting together his own take on the classic tome.

In her original assessment of the film, she wasn’t totally scathing, saying she was “humbled” that Nolan had used her work to help him adapt it, calling its release a “an event to celebrate” and praising the filmmaker for “doing his best to get the general public reading again”.

Ultimately, though, she compared Nolan’s Odyssey to “an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display – and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth”.

While Nolan has not responded to this particular criticism, he has previously jumped to his film’s defence after questions around its supposed historical accuracy.