From hearing loss to loneliness, the NINE dementia risk factors

ONE in three dementia cases could be prevented by lifestyle changes to reduce nine risk factors, a major global report will reveal today.

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 also urged doctors to crack down on high blood pressure which could help prevent one in 50 dementia cases.

There are believed to be up to 1 million Britons living with the condition. The report said that reducing risks should start in childhood but making changes even when in your late 70s could still lower the risk.

Ensuring everyone was educated to at least the age of 15 would cut the total number of dementia cases by 8 per cent, it added. In middle age, treating hearing loss would have the greatest impact, with a drop of 9 per cent if the problem was eliminated.

Stopping all smoking in the over-65s would cut cases by 5 per cent and treating depression would stop 4 per cent. Ending physical inactivity in the over-65s would cut cases by 3 per cent while preventing social isolation and diabetes in old age would cause drops of 2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.

Other risks include high blood pressure and obesity in middle age so preventing these would cut cases by 2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, said the report in The Lancet medical journal.

Just a 1 per cent reduction in cases would mean 8,500 fewer Britons developing dementia.

If all nine health and lifestyle risks were eliminated, around 35 per cent of all dementia cases would be prevented – equivalent to saving around 300,000 in the UK from the disease.

In contrast, the biggest genetic risk is responsible for around 7 per cent of cases, or around 60,000 British patients.

Study co-author Professor Clive Ballard, of Exeter University Medical School, said: ‘People tend to think there’s noth

‘There are things we can all do’

ing they can do about dementia but there is something.

‘We’ve already shown over the last decade that treating medical risks in mid-life better does make a difference.

‘If at least a third of the factors are potentially modifiable then there are things we can all do.’

Lead author Professor Gill Livingston, of University College London, said: ‘Although dementia is diagnosed in later life, the brain changes usually begin to develop years before with risk factors occurring throughout life.

‘A broader approach to prevention will help to prevent the rising number of cases globally.’

Education is believed to strengthen the brain’s networks and cognitive reserve – its ability to withstand damage caused by dementia.

Hearing loss is believed to weaken cognitive reserve by causing biological changes or leading to social isolation and depression, both strongly linked to dementia. Stopping smoking reduces the brain’s exposure to toxins and improves heart function, which boosts brain health.

Although it would be impossible to eliminate all nine risks, the researchers said just a 10 per cent reduction could lead to more than a million fewer dementia cases worldwide.

Dr Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘We all need to be aware of the risks and start making positive lifestyle changes.’ The report will be presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London today.