New risk factors identified for dementia prevention

A new study has identified a number of dementia risk factors that could be targeted as a means of preventing the onset of the condition.

The University College London research has outlined nine risk factors that affect a person's brain health across their lifespan, and has estimated that one-third of dementia cases could be prevented if they are targeted successfully.

The nine factors include staying in education until over the age of 15, reducing high blood pressure, obesity and hearing loss in mid-life, and cutting rates of smoking, depression, physical inactivity, social isolation and diabetes in later life.

It was shown that increasing education in early life, reducing hearing loss in mid-life and stopping smoking in later life were the three most common risk factors that could be targeted most effectively.

Professor Gill Livingston of University College London's psychiatry department said: "We believe that a broader approach to prevention of dementia which reflects these changing risk factors will benefit our ageing societies and help to prevent the rising number of dementia cases globally."

There are currently around 47 million people living with dementia, but this is set to almost triple to 131 million by 2050, meaning new approaches to preventing the condition are needed.

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