Life changes reduce dementia risk

ONE in three dementia cases could be prevented by making lifestyle changes to reduce nine risk factors, a major global report has revealed.

It highlights the dangers, including obesity, smoking and high blood pressure, which need to be avoided to lower the threat by more than a third.

This is the first time scientists have been able to prove how much of dementia is preventable.

The public should not see it as “an inevitable part of ageing” but take responsibility to reduce their own risk, like they would with cancer or heart disease, they warned.

The senior dementia experts, including an Australian, also urged doctors to crack down on high blood pressure, which could help prevent one in 50 dementia cases.

The report said that reducing risks should start in childhood but making changes even when in your late 70s could still lower the risk.

More than 413,000 Australians live with dementia, with more than 530,000 forecast to be affected within eight years.