14 Risk Factors You Can Control

The 2024 Lancet Commission report identifies vision loss and high cholesterol as new risk factors for dementia, adding to 12 others previously known.

It emphasizes the importance of early and lifelong management of these factors, including for those with a genetic predisposition to dementia. The report provides 13 recommendations targeting both individuals and governments to mitigate risk. These include managing hearing and vision loss, maintaining cognitive and social activity, using head protection in sports, managing vascular risks like cholesterol and diabetes, improving air quality, and fostering supportive communities. Research focusing on England indicates that implementing these measures could save about £4 billion by addressing risk factors such as excessive alcohol consumption, brain injuries, air pollution, smoking, obesity, and hypertension.

According to the third Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care, addressing 14 modifiable risk factors from childhood and continuing throughout life could prevent or delay nearly half of dementia cases. This is crucial as global life expectancy increases and the number of dementia cases is projected to rise significantly in all countries. These findings were recently presented at the DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01296-0

“Benefits of population-level interventions for dementia risk factors: an economic modelling study for England” by Naaheed Mukadam, Robert Anderson, Sebastian Walsh, Raphael Wittenberg, Martin Knapp, Carol Brayne and Gill Livingston, 31 July 2024, The Lancet Healthy Longevity.
DOI: 10.1016/S2666-7568(24)00117-X

The Lancet Commission was funded by University College London, UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Economic and Social Research Council. The full list of researchers and institutions who conducted the research is available in the Commission report.

The Lancet Healthy Longevity paper was funded by the NIHR Three Schools.