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When it comes to brain health, there are many factors that can make a real difference – including how much exercise you get, how much you socialise, and keeping your blood pressure in a healthy range.
Even something as seemingly simple – and enjoyable – as spending time with your friends and family could help keep your mind sharp.
For, while it is easy to think of dementia as an inevitable consequence of getting older, it is anything but.
Evidence is mounting that a healthy lifestyle can help keep dementia at bay.
While simple changes to our lifestyle won’t delay, prevent or cure all cases of dementia, even delaying its onset by five years could halve the number of people with the condition.
Crucially, it is never too late (or too early) to start looking after your brain health – and even small changes could make a big difference.
A pivotal paper in 2020 identified 12 factors, from obesity and high blood pressure to air pollution and hearing loss, which, together, may be responsible for 40% of cases of dementia.
In other words, nearly half of all cases could potentially be delayed or avoided.
The 28 world-leading dementia experts of the Lancet Commission said that while it can be hard for us to change our behaviour, the potential for each of us to lower our risk of dementia is ‘huge’.
In this section, we explore the dozen factors pinpointed by the UCL-led review of dementia research. We also highlight practical ways of reducing your risk of dementia.
Intriguingly, how well we hear may be important, with studies increasingly linking hearing loss with higher risk of dementia. In fact, according to the Lancet Commission, hearing loss could be behind 8% of all cases of dementia.
Studies show that a person’s risk of dementia rises as their hearing worsens. But, importantly, hearing aids seem to protect against memory loss. With this in mind, the Lancet Commission recommends we protect our ears from excessive noise and wear a hearing aid when necessary.
Additionally, hearing aids are improving. Many people find the newest hearing aids with Bluetooth enhance their life, meaning they can listen to music, podcasts, radio or books as they clean – or walk (an added bonus).
Excess weight is linked to dementia, but the reverse is also true, with studies showing that weight loss brings with it gains in memory, at least in the short term.
Even a couple of kilos can make a difference. A study found that memory and attention improved when overweight men and women lost 2kg or more
Keeping a lid on your blood pressure could help keep your brain healthy. One key study illustrated the value of lowering systolic blood pressure (the top number) to 120 mmHg – lower than usually recommended.
Over-50s who got their blood pressure down were 20% less likely to develop dementia and mild cognitive impairment (the slight memory lapses that can be a precursor of dementia) five years later than those whose readings remained higher.
Taking into account all the research, the Lancet Commission recommends that, from around the age of 40, we try to keep our systolic blood pressure at 130 mmHg or below.
Encouragingly, it adds that blood pressure tablets are the ‘only known effective preventive medication for dementia’.
Type 2 diabetes – the form that normally occurs in middle-age and is associated with obesity – is a ‘clear risk factor for the development of future dementia’, the Lancet Commission concluded.
Research links type 2 diabetes with a 60% higher chance of dementia. Often if you take exercise and keep your weight in reasonable limits then this may ward off diabetes - a risk that increases the longer and more severe the diabetes.
Those with less than eight years of education are more than twice as likely to develop dementia as those with more education.
And those who have been to college or university with education up until the age of 20 or beyond have even more protection against dementia.
This is thought to be due to something called cognitive reserve. This is the idea that the things we experience throughout our lives, including our education, jobs and hobbies, rewire and reshape the brain.
Smokers are at higher risk of dementia than non-smokers – but quitting the habit is good for your brain, no matter what age you are.
For example, a study of 50,000 men aged 60-plus found that those who gave up smoking for at least four years were 10% less likely to develop dementia in the next eight years than those who didn’t stop.
And don’t forget other people’s smoke. Studies have linked passive smoking – the breathing in of second-hand smoke – with memory loss.
In recent years, patches and other ways to stop smoking have made this easier.
Those with less than eight years of education are more than twice as likely to develop dementia as those with more education.
And those who have been to college or university with education up until the age of 20 or beyond have even more protection against dementia.
This is thought to be due to something called cognitive reserve. This is the idea that the things we experience throughout our lives, including our education, jobs and hobbies, rewire and reshape the brain.
Social isolation is thought to be responsible for 4% of all cases of dementia.
If you find meeting people daunting, the GCBH advises starting small. Its tips include sharing a smile a day with someone or showing an interest in someone by asking how they are. Another good tip is to make a point of seeing your family and friends.
Traffic fumes, wood smoke and other types of air pollution may be responsible for 2% of cases of dementia. Animal studies suggest the pollutants speed up the degeneration of the brain and the accumulation of beta-amyloid, the sticky brain protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
While you can’t choose whether where you live is polluted, you can try not to add to pollution levels (eg driving petrol cars, using wood burning stoves). Even walking down streets that are back from a main road can reduce the level of pollutants enormously, so think about the routes you take.
While small amounts of alcohol might be beneficial, drinking heavily has long been linked to cognitive impairment and dementia. Now we know that even more moderate drinking can cause harm. The Lancet Commission recommends we don’t have more than 21 units of alcohol a week. If you have two relatively small glasses of wine a day, this is more than this recommendation. Try to have some alcohol-free days every week.
A unit contains 8g of pure alcohol – the amount found in a single measure of spirits. A standard (175ml) glass of wine contains 2.1 units, and a pint of beer has 2.3 units.
