What can you do to lower your risk of dementia?
Let’s talk about it.
A recent study has revealed 14 factors that contribute to dementia:
- Education
- Hearing loss
- Depression
- Head trauma
- Lack of physical activity
- Smoking
- Hypertension
- Obesity
- Type two diabetes
- Drinking alcohol excessively
- Social isolation
- Air pollution
- Vision loss
- High LDL levels
If all of these 14 factors were fully addressed, for instance:
- Providing higher education
- Eradicating obesity
- Making helmet use mandatory for youth
- Eliminating air pollution
- Helping people get their blood pressure and LDL levels controlled
- Helping them reduce their type two diabetes
- Increasing social interactions
- Especially as people get older
- Helping people quit smoking and drinking
- Encouraging physical activity throughout life
- Providing mental health support for depression
- Making sure people get adequate vision and auditory care
… then dementia would fall by 45% worldwide.
Almost 7% of dementia risk can be attributed to high LDL which can cause [loss of] oxygen and nutrition to the brain.
You can lower high LDL with increased physical activity, decreased carbohydrate consumption following a Mediterranean Diet Plan. If lifestyle changes are not enough, talk to your health care provider about statin medications or more natural LDL suppression through supplementation.
Untreated hearing loss, social isolation and low education came in second in increasing the risk for dementia. Providing access to higher education for all children, providing hearing screens throughout life, and helping people engage with their society and community especially as they get older can greatly reduce the risk of dementia.
Although the rest of the factors were 3% or less in contributing to dementia risk, if all of them were addressed – your risk of dementia will significantly drop.
So what can you do right now?
- Get your vision and hearing checked
- Increase your physical activity
- Stop smoking
- Limit your alcohol intake
- Get your blood pressure and LDL under control
- Work on losing extra belly fat
- Make sure your blood sugar is under control
One of the easiest ways to improve brain health, especially after traumatic brain injury is to support your hypothalamus. Extra Sacred Seven® amino acids are incredibly important for my patients with a history of traumatic brain injury.
If you have any questions about dementia risk, please join us in our Hormone Reboot Training.
Resources:
https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/dementia-prevention-intervention-care
What are the most important factors for lowering dementia risk?
A landmark Lancet Commission report identified 14 modifiable risk factors that together may account for nearly 45% of dementia cases worldwide. The factors span the full lifespan and include low educational attainment in early life; hearing loss, depression, traumatic brain injury, and physical inactivity in midlife; and hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, social isolation, air pollution, vision loss, and high LDL cholesterol in later life. The implication is profound — nearly half of dementia cases are not inevitable. Addressing these factors through lifestyle, medical management, and social support offers the most evidence-supported pathway available for reducing individual dementia risk.
Why are women at higher risk of dementia than men?
Women represent approximately two-thirds of all Alzheimer’s disease cases — a disparity that goes beyond the fact that women live longer. Hormonal factors play a significant role. Estrogen is neuroprotective — it stimulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), increases cerebral blood flow, reduces neuroinflammation, and supports the myelin sheath integrity that enables efficient neural signaling. The menopause transition represents a critical window of neurological vulnerability as estrogen withdraws, and research increasingly supports the timing hypothesis — that maintaining estrogen support through early menopause significantly reduces long-term dementia risk. Thyroid dysfunction, which is more common in women and frequently undertreated, is an additional hormonal risk factor for cognitive decline that the standard Lancet list does not capture.
How does high LDL cholesterol increase dementia risk?
High LDL cholesterol contributes to dementia risk primarily through its effects on cerebrovascular health. Elevated LDL promotes the development of arterial plaques that reduce blood flow to the brain, depriving neurons of the oxygen and nutrients they need for sustained function. This vascular contribution to cognitive impairment — sometimes called vascular dementia — accounts for a meaningful proportion of dementia cases and is distinct from but often overlapping with Alzheimer’s pathology. Addressing LDL through increased physical activity, reduced refined carbohydrate intake, and an anti-inflammatory diet like the Mediterranean diet is the most sustainable approach. When lifestyle changes are insufficient, a healthcare provider can discuss additional options including statin medications or evidence-based natural supplementation.
How does sleep protect against dementia?
Sleep is one of the most powerful and most underappreciated levers for dementia prevention. During deep sleep, the brain activates its glymphatic system — a waste-clearance network that flushes metabolic byproducts from between neurons, including amyloid beta and tau proteins that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Without adequate deep sleep, this clearance process is impaired and these toxic proteins accumulate. Chronic sleep deprivation is now recognized as an independent risk factor for dementia — not just a symptom of declining brain health. Seven to nine hours of quality sleep in darkness, with consistent sleep and wake times, is the simplest and most direct intervention available for maintaining the brain’s nightly self-cleaning process.
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