6 Dementia Risk Factors You Can Change

Not every case of dementia is preventable. Sometimes “there is such bad luck,” notes Yaffe. Some people will follow healthy habits for many years and still develop it. “We don’t want to put blame on people, or have people feel like it’s entirely in their control,” she says. “But I do think there’s a message of hope that being able to change some of these things actually could delay or minimize your risk.” 

These healthy habits benefit your whole body—including your brain—and may help contribute to lower dementia risk over time. 

What you can do: Aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week, take prescribed medications, and follow a heart-healthy diet. (The American Heart Association recommends a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and healthy protein sources, and limiting saturated fats, sugars, sodium, and ultra-processed foods.)

A number of dementia risk factors “bundle together quite nicely,” notes Karlawish: High LDL cholesterol, obesity, hypertension, physical inactivity, and Type 2 diabetes account for 14% of potentially modifiable risk, according to the Lancet Commission. “Anything that you think about that might be harmful for the heart—like hypertension, obesity, diabetes, high lipids—all of those things turn out to actually be important for brain health, too,” says Yaffe.