One in three dementia cases could be preventable? This report says yes – and you can start in childhood

Managing lifestyle problems such as smoking, hearing loss, hypertension and depression could prevent one-third of the world’s dementia cases, according to a new report from the first Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention and Care.

The Commission found there were nine risk factors in early, mid- and late life that increase your likelihood of developing dementia – and 35 per cent of dementia cases were caused by these factors.

So what can you do to cut your risk?

The researchers say educating people in early life and dealing with hearing loss, hypertension and obesity in mid-life can reduce the risk by up to 20 per cent.

In later life, stopping smoking, managing diabetes, treating depression, doing more exercise, and increasing social contact can cut it by another 15 per cent.

Education essential to reduce risk

Their research found that not completing less than eight years of school contributed to eight per cent of people’s lifetime risk for dementia. Scientists put this down to education boosting people’s ‘cognitive reserve’ in later life and their ability to ward off age-related changes to the brain.

In midlife, as much as nine per cent of the lifetime risk for dementia is associated with hearing loss – high blood pressure accounts for two per cent while being obese adds one per cent.

The Commission wants countries to take a preventative approach to dementia by promoting education, exercise and preventative health care.

With 115 million people expected to be diagnosed with dementia globally by 2050, it’s worth doing.