Jan. 17, 2025 – Recent headlines that suggested up to 42% of people ages 55 and older face an eventual dementia diagnosis may have lit up the appointment call centers for neurology offices nationwide.
But some experts have a follow-up message: Don’t panic.
That’s because the study leaned heavily on data from people at high risk of blood vessel problems (collectively called vascular disease), which are also known to be linked to dementia risk, said Mia Yang, MD, MS, a dementia and gerontology expert from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina. She works in one of the four communities from which the data was collected.
“This study in the context of existing literature is not new – we know that those who have vascular risk factors have a higher likelihood of developing dementia,” she said. “If you have vascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia, then your risk of developing dementia is higher than those who do not have those risk factors. However, risk is not the same as destiny. There are plenty of patients without vascular risk factors who develop Alzheimer’s dementia.”
Researchers and public health officials have for years wrestled with imperfect data to estimate dementia’s reach. Many cases are believed to be undiagnosed, and the group of cognitive diseases disproportionately affect diverse groups who historically have been underrepresented in medical research.
The team involved in this latest study, published in the prominent journal Nature Medicine, said the increases in their projections were partly due to the increased diversity of people represented in the data they used. The new estimate says the risk of dementia among Black people rises more quickly than for White people starting around age 75. Starting around age 85, lifetime risk among women becomes higher than for men, but the researchers said that is because women live longer than men.
Prevent and Plan
There is no cure for dementia, but there is scientific evidence that points toward ways to reduce your risk.
For those who have dementia prevention on their radar, here are three areas that Yang suggests looking into.
“Know your own numbers in terms of blood pressure, cholesterol, and fasting blood sugar,” she said, since all of those health indicators can impact dementia risk. “Improve your aerobic exercise – do not let perfection be the enemy of consistency. Anything that gets your heart rate up and sweating is better than none.”
And finally, “improve your diet – more greens, less fried and processed foods,” said Yang, who hosts a podcast called Ask Dr. Mia: Conversations on Aging Well, which includes more than a dozen episodes on memory, dementia, and caregiving.
Neurologist Glen R. Finney, MD, called the study’s finding that risk dramatically increases in older age unsurprising.
“As I have told my patients for decades, the greatest risk for dementia is age itself – living long enough,” said Finney, director of the Memory and Cognition Program at Geisinger Health in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
What he really wants people to know, though, is that dementia prevention and making the most of brain health are possible and are important at all ages. And parents, take note: Prevention can even begin in infancy and childhood.
Finney, who specializes in Alzheimer’s disease and is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, offered these tips for dementia prevention during each phase of life:
- Childhood and adolescence: Parents should promote education and socialization and support meeting developmental milestones.
- Early adulthood through your 40s: Your brain will benefit from continued learning, socialization, and having good social networks. Watch out for anxiety and depression, and if you have symptoms, get them addressed with your health care team. Consider long-term care insurance, and start advanced-care plan discussions with your providers. Also, save for retirement.
- During your 50s: Keep up with the other adulthood prevention efforts, and consider starting cognitive screenings if there is a family history of dementia starting before the ages of 60 to 65. Make sure that your hearing is good, and get any hearing problems addressed, as this is an important link with dementia.
- During your 60s: Transition to retirement and age-friendly homes and communities. All of the above prevention efforts “are more important now than ever to maintain healthy function and healthy brains,” Finney said. It’s reasonable to begin occasional cognitive screenings now. Staying socially active with a social network that spans many age groups is important, as is avoiding fall risks. Make plans for eventual help with transportation needs, even if that seems a long way off.
- Ages 70 and older: Keep doing everything mentioned in your 60s, and get regular cognition checks. “Make sure to stay socially active, even when you lose friends and loved ones, and make sure to share your life experiences with others, including the younger generation,” Finney said.
- Important at any age: Be mindful of your diet, exercise, and sleep. And avoid harmful substances and head traumas, meaning wearing helmets, not doing drugs, and staying away from secondhand smoke. Schedule regular doctor and dental visits. All of those may just sound like run-of-the-mill health recommendations, but each is linked to brain health and dementia risk in the long run.
