Avoiding 3 risk factors in midlife could add 13 dementia-free years

• Research suggests that avoiding three midlife risk factors — smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure — may help delay dementia onset by up to 13 years.
• Other modifiable risk factors include high cholesterol, physical inactivity, hearing loss, depression, and social isolation.
• Experts recommend managing vascular health as early as possible to help protect cognitive health.

Avoiding smoking, not having diabetes, and having normal blood pressure may help protect against dementia for an additional 13 years.

This is according to new research published in the Neurology Open Access. The NYU Langone Health researchers determined that avoiding midlife risk factors between the ages of 46 and 70 years could help delay the potential onset of dementia.

Dementia causes symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, and problems with communication. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, typically develops after the age of 65.

However, the recent study suggests that taking steps to manage certain risk factors could help protect against the development of dementia until later in life.