What You Do Between 45 And 65 Could Buy You 13 Extra Dementia-Free Years, Study Finds

Key Points:

• A study published in Neurology Open Access analyzed health records of 12,409 participants over 26 years and found that maintaining normal blood pressure, avoiding diabetes, and not smoking between ages 45 to 65 can extend dementia-free years by nearly 13 on average.
• The research emphasizes the importance of midlife vascular health, as blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking all impact blood vessels, and better vascular health is linked to both longer dementia-free survival and lower early mortality.
• While the study does not prove causation, it provides strong evidence that these modifiable lifestyle factors significantly influence dementia risk, supporting prevention strategies focused on vascular health starting in middle age.
• The findings also highlight health disparities, showing that Black participants had fewer dementia-free years than white participants, suggesting targeted prevention efforts may be especially beneficial for certain populations.
• Future research may explore how improvements in these risk factors, such as quitting smoking or controlling blood pressure, could further delay dementia onset, which is critical as dementia cases continue to rise globally.