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Experts have highlighted three health factors that can delay possible dementia risk for up to 13 years.
As reported by NBC News, the risk of cognitive decline increases with age, with about 42 per cent of Americans over the age of 55 expected to develop dementia.
Three risk factors to look out for in middle age
According to research published in the journal Neurology Open Access, people who avoided three vascular risk factors in middle age, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking, had around 13 more dementia-free years.
How was the dementia risk factors study conducted?
For the study, NYU Langone Health researchers observed about 12,400 middle-age participants in the US for about 26 years.
At the start, their average age was 56, with over half the participants being women and about 25 per cent being Black.
None of the participants had signs of vascular cognitive impairment, a condition linked to strokes and small-vessel disease.
The researchers compared people who were diagnosed diabetes, hypertension [blood pressure of 140/90 mm Hg or higher] and who used tobacco to those who did not have the mentioned risk factors.
Why the vascular risk factors affect dementia?
Diabetes, hypertension and smoking cause damage to blood vessels, including those that supply the brain.
For people with the three risk factors, dementia risk rose from 23% at age 55 to 37% at 75. By 85, only 7% of people with all three risk factors were dementia-free.
People with the three risk factors had about 18 dementia-free years of their lives, compared to an estimated 30 years for those with no risk factors.
Dr Cynthia Carlsson, a geriatrician at the University of Wisconsin Health, who was not involved in the study, highlighted that the findings reinforce evidence that healthy blood vessels not only protect against heart disease, but also protect brain health.
