Lifestyle changes may slash dementia cases but how do we reach that goal?

• Past studies show there are certain healthy lifestyle choices that people can make to potentially help them lower their risk for dementia.
• In 2024, the Lancet Commission established 14 risk factors for dementia and reported that half of all dementia cases globally could be prevented or delayed by addressing these risk factors.
• A new study says although almost 50% of all dementia cases could be prevented through modifiable risk factors, current public health approaches may not be helping enough to drive people to making real behavior changes.

Past studies show there are certain healthy lifestyle choices that people can make to potentially help them lower their risk for dementia.

In 2024, the Lancet Commission established 14 risk factors for dementia, with many of them being modifiable such as smoking, obesity, alcohol misuse, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

The Lancet Commission further reported in 2024 that about half of all dementia cases around the world could be prevented or delayed by addressing these risk factors.

“Dementia affects more than 57 million people worldwide, and that number is set to almost triple by 2050,” Mario Siervo, PhD, professor of human nutrition and head of the School of Population Health at Curtin University in Australia, told Medical News Today.

“Around half of all cases are linked to modifiable risk factors, so there is real scope to reduce risk, yet many people still believe nothing can be done. Finding effective ways to change that belief is one of the biggest opportunities in dementia research,” added Siervo.

He is the senior author of a new study published in the journal The Lancet Healthy Longevity that says although almost 50% of all dementia cases could be prevented by changing modifiable risk factors, current public health approaches may not be helping enough to drive people to making real behavior changes.