Nearly half of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by tackling 14 risk factors starting in childhood
The third Lancet Commission on dementia prevention has identified 14 preventable childhood risk factors that, if tackled early on, could prevent or delay dementia onset. Among these are vision loss and high cholesterol.
The other risk factors are lower levels of education, hearing impairment, high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, traumatic brain injury [TBI], air pollution and social isolation. They are linked to 40% of all dementia cases. The new report estimates that the risk factors associated with the greatest proportion of people developing dementia in the global population are hearing impairment and high LDL cholesterol (7% each), along with less education in early life and social isolation in later life (5% each).
The Commission, authored by 27 world-leading dementia experts, calls for governments and individuals to be ambitious about tackling risks across the life course for dementia, arguing that the earlier we can address and reduce risk factor levels, the better. The report outlines a new set of policy and lifestyle changes to help prevent and better manage dementia.
“Our new report reveals that there is much more that can and should be done to reduce the risk of dementia. It’s never too early or too late to take action, with opportunities to make an impact at any stage of life”, says lead author Professor Gill Livingston from University College London, UK. “We now have stronger evidence that longer exposure to risk has a greater effect and that risks act more strongly in people who are vulnerable. That’s why it is vital that we redouble preventive efforts towards those who need them most, including those in low- and middle-income countries and socio-economically disadvantaged groups. Governments must reduce risk inequalities by making healthy lifestyles as achievable as possible for everyone.”
In 2020 there were an estimated 50 million people world over who were suffering from dementia and this number if expected to go up significantly by 2050.
