Half of dementia cases could be prevented by adopting healthier lifestyle, research suggests

Nearly half of dementia cases could be prevented if people adopted healthier lifestyles, according to researchers.

It is easier for individuals to protect themselves from the disease than many believe, a study has found.

The Lancet Commission on Dementia will list 14 lifestyle and environmental factors that can be altered to cut the risk of dementia. Nearly half of dementia cases are down to these factors, it is expected to say.

By eating less, keeping active, cutting out alcohol and cigarettes and exercising the brain, the study will say that it is possible for people to direct their fate – even if they are at high genetic risk of dementia.

The findings will be presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia, US, on Wednesday.

A separate study, presented to the summit yesterday, revealed that a new blood test can predict Alzheimer’s with 90 per cent accuracy – more precisely than current methods.

The breakthrough could help to improve diagnoses, allowing more patients to access new drugs that are more effective when taken in the early stages of the disease.

Hilary Evans-Newton, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘People still think that dementia is inevitable – there is this idea that you are either going to get it or you are not and there’s nothing you can do about that.

But there are things you can do all the way through your life to reduce your risk of dementia and allow you to live a longer, healthier life.’

A previous report by the Lancet Commission, published in 2020, listed 12 modifiable risk factors: blood pressure, obesity, alcohol intake, smoking, lack of exercise, diabetes, brain injury, social isolation, hearing loss, depression, keeping the brain active and air pollution.

The new report will add two risk factors and call for governments to intervene at an earlier stage to help people reduce their risk, The Sunday Times in the UK reported.

In one area of scientific research, neurologists have found that using the brain for abstract, high-level thinking provides protection against dementia.

The world has changed in the last ten years when it comes to dementia science... People think it’s fate – but there are things that you can do.

The theory that this ‘cognitive reserve’ may help people ward off the disease, particularly in the early stages, is one that has sparked a wave of ‘brain training’ apps and programmes.

Nearly a million people in the UK are thought to have dementia – with diagnoses at a record level, latest data shows.

The new study is expected to suggest that in at least 40 per cent of cases, the onset of dementia could be delayed or avoided altogether with changes to lifestyle and environment.

Sarah Kennedy, 54, from Orkney, in Scotland, whose parents have dementia, said: ‘The world has changed in the last ten years when it comes to dementia science... People think it’s fate – but there are things that you can do.

‘At the moment, we are trying to treat and support people at the very end stages of this condition. We need to rethink this – and I think prevention is key.’