There are known genetic risk factors for Alzheimers and frontotemporal lobe dementia. I’ve had my genome sequenced and I have none of the currently recognized variants associated with elevated dementia risk. Of course, none of us can control our genetics. But there are environmental inputs to dementia risk that we can control for ourselves, regardless of our genome makeup.
“The Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care has raised the number of modifiable risk factors definitively linked to cognitive loss to 14, based on research conducted since its last update in 2020.”
“The 14 factors include:
• Education
• Hearing loss
• Depression
• Head trauma from sports and bike riding
• Physical activity
• Smoking
• Hypertension
• Obesity
• Type 2 diabetes
• Alcohol drinking
• Social isolation
• Air pollution
• Vision loss
• High LDL
“If all of these were fully addressed — providing higher education to everyone, ending obesity, making helmet use mandatory for youth, eliminating air pollution, etc. — worldwide risk for dementia would fall by 45%, the commission found in its review of nearly 600 scientific publications.”
Each of these factors has a different impact on risk. Read the link for more details. Of course, addressing these factors will have positive externalities for your health beyond reducing dementia risk.
