Aug. 12, 2024 – Researchers have identified two new ways that people can reduce their risk of getting dementia.
The pair of risk factors play a role in as many as 9% of all dementia cases, with an estimated 7% of dementia cases linked to high cholesterol and 2% linked to untreated vision loss later in life, according to a panel of 27 experts who recently published their new report as part of the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care.
Until recently, evidence was inconclusive about whether LDL (also known as “bad”) cholesterol impacted dementia risk, the study authors wrote. But numerous new analyses showed high LDL cholesterol is strongly linked to a higher chance of getting dementia. They now recommend that it be diagnosed and treated starting no later than midlife.
One explanation for the link may be that excess cholesterol can impact the brain, increasing stroke risk and also deposits of brain plaques called amyloid beta and another dementia-related brain change called tau tangles, the researchers explained.
The second new dementia risk factor stems from what the team called “considerable evidence” of a link between untreated vision loss and dementia, including a higher risk linked to cataracts, diabetic retinopathy (damaged blood vessels in the back of the eye), and other vision damage that can impact a person’s day-to-day activities. There are several reasons that vision problems may impact dementia risk, the authors concluded, suggesting that illnesses like diabetes themselves raise dementia risk, but also vision loss itself or shared disease processes affecting both the eyes and the brain could play important roles in the link.
These two new ways to reduce dementia risk bring the total number of risk factors that you can change to 14. Dementia is a group of conditions including Alzheimer’s disease that in the U.S. affect more than 6 million people’s ability to remember, think, or make decisions. There is no cure for dementia, so increasing focus has been on what people can do to reduce their risk.
In 2020, the research group detailed 12 other ways that people and communities can work toward reducing dementia risk:
- Offer universal access to quality education, and encourage people in midlife onward to do stimulating things to protect their mental skills.
- Take steps to reduce harmful noise exposure and help people with hearing loss obtain hearing aids.
- Treat depression.
- Help people avoid head injuries by encouraging helmet use.
- Encourage physical activity.
- Help people stop smoking.
- Screen for and treat high blood pressure, particularly starting at age 40.
- Treat obesity as early as possible in life and encourage people to maintain a healthy weight.
- Treat diabetes.
- Avoid high alcohol consumption.
- Prioritize ways to reduce social isolation.
- Reduce air pollution exposure.
