Question 162 of 433
Can dementia be prevented?
The short answer
Risk can be reduced, and some dementia may be delayed. A major model links about 45 percent of cases to potentially modifiable factors; it does not show that a program will prevent 45 percent of an individual’s risk.
That figure comes from the 2024 Lancet Commission, which named fourteen factors across the lifespan: less education early in life; hearing loss, high LDL cholesterol, depression, head injury, physical inactivity, diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, and heavy alcohol use in midlife; and social isolation, air pollution, and untreated vision loss later on.
Read that list again. Almost every item appears elsewhere in this book for other reasons. There is a saying in my field: what is good for the heart is good for the brain. I put it more bluntly: the brain is downstream of the heart. It is two percent of your body weight and uses about a fifth of your oxygen.
“This book is for education. It is not medical advice, and reading it does not make you my patient or create a doctor-patient relationship.” From the book’s medical disclaimer. Full disclaimer
POPULATION MODEL — Potentially modifiable dementia factors; 45 percent is not an individual treatment effect.Evidence grade (draft mapping)CObservationalPart 12, Q162 · Part sources
From Longevity Unmasked by Afshine Ash Emrani, MD, FACC. Medical disclaimer. This book is for education. It is not medical advice, and reading it does not make you my patient or create a doctor-patient relationship. Nothing here is meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Medicine is personal: a test, drug, supplement, or exercise plan that helps one person can harm another. Do not start, stop, or change any medication or treatment because of something you read in these pages. Talk with a licensed clinician who knows your history first. If you think you are having a medical emergency, call 911. The author disclaims responsibility for any loss or harm arising from use of the information in this book.