Lifestyle changes such as eating less, keeping active and cutting out alcohol and cigarettes could halve the risk of dementia, study reveals

Half of dementia cases could be prevented if people adopted healthier and more environmentally-friendly lifestyles, a study will reveal this week.

A landmark paper due to be published on Wednesday will reveal that it is easier for individuals to protect themselves from disease than many believe.

The Lancet Commission on Dementia will list 14 lifestyle and environmental factors that can be altered to cut the risk of dementia.

It is expected say that nearly half of dementia cases are down to these factors.

By eating less, keeping active, cutting out alcohol and cigarettes and exercising the brain, it is possible for people to take their fate into their own hands even if they are at high genetic risk.

A separate study presented at the same conference yesterday showed a new blood test could predict Alzheimer’s with 90 per cent accuracy, which is more precise than current methods.

The breakthrough could help improve diagnoses, allowing more patients to access new drugs that are more effective when taken in the early stages of disease.

Hilary Evans-Newton, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘People still think that dementia is inevitable – there is this idea that you are either going to get it or you are not, and there’s nothing you can do about that.

‘But there are things you can do all the way through your life to reduce your risk of dementia and allow you to live a longer, healthier life.’

The latest update will be unveiled at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia.

The previous edition of the Lancet Commission, published in 2020, listed 12 modifiable risk factors: blood pressure, obesity, alcohol intake, smoking, lack of exercise, diabetes, brain injury, social isolation, hearing loss, depression, keeping the brain active and air pollution.

The weight of scientific evidence in this area has grown in recent years and the new report is expected to go further, the Sunday Times reported. It will add two new lifestyle and health risk factors and call for governments to intervene at an earlier stage to help people reduce their risk.

Neurologists have found that using the brain for abstract, high-level thinking throughout a lifetime provides protection against some aspects of dementia.

The theory that this ‘cognitive reserve’ may help people ward off dementia, particularly in the early stages, is one that has sparked a wave of ‘brain training’ apps and programmes.

Nearly a million people in the UK are thought to have dementia, with diagnoses at a record level, according to data published last week.

This week’s report is expected to suggest that in at least 40 per cent of cases the onset of dementia could be delayed or avoided altogether with changes to lifestyle and environment.

Sarah Kennedy, 54, from Orkney, gave up her job as a housing support officer to support her two parents with dementia.

She said: ‘I never want my kids to have to live through what I have with my own parents.

‘They have been married nearly 60 years. It has been a very strong, loving marriage – but now they don’t really know each other.’ Her genetic inheritance means she is at increased risk of developing the disease but is determined to do what she can to reduce her risk.

She added: ‘There’s a big opportunity here because the world has changed in the last ten years when it comes to dementia science, but I don’t think our health system has caught up.

‘At the moment we are trying to treat and support people at the very end stages of this condition, often when they are at crisis point.

‘We need to rethink this – and I think prevention is key.’ She called for the NHS to do much more to educate patients about the link between dementia and wider health factors.

‘There needs to be a bit of a reboot of how we do that,’ she said.

‘People think it’s fate – but actually, there are things that you can do. Looking forward, it’s about what I can do for myself and what I can do for my children.’