Nearly half of dementia cases can be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 Risk Factors from Early Childhood. This is the challenge launched by a new report from the Lancet Commission on the prevention, intervention and treatment of dementia, a growing health emergency with the progressive aging of the population. It is expected that by 2050 the number of sufferers in the world will rise to 153 million, triple the 57 million in 2019, the experts recall in ‘The Lancet’ who – based on the latest available evidence – They updated the list of dementia risk factors by adding 2 new entries: high levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol starting at age 40; uncorrected vision loss in old age.
Risk factors, what are they?
Together, these 2 new risk factors would contribute to 9% of all dementia cases (7% and 2% respectively), while 40% of cases are considered to be associated with the 12 factors already identified by the Lancet Commission in 2020: low levels of education, hearing problems, high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, head trauma, air pollution and social isolation. The 2024 report, presented in Philadelphia at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (Aaic 2024, 28 July-1 August), estimates that the risk factors linked to the highest rates of dementia cases in the global population are hearing problems and high LDL cholesterol (each associated with 7% of dementia cases), together with lower education in early childhood and social isolation in old age (5% each).
The recommendations
The report sets out 13 recommendations to reduce the risk of dementia, addressed to citizens and institutions. In summary: prevent and treat hearing loss, vision loss and depression; stay cognitively active throughout life; protect your head in contact sports; reduce vascular risk factors (high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure); improve air quality; create environments that are conducive to social contact. It has been calculated that, by implementing some of these measures with interventions at a population level, savings of around £4 billion could be achieved in England alone. The global costs associated with dementia are estimated at over $1 trillion a year.
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