Study finds three midlife health factors that could delay dementia for 13 years

Research suggests addressing risk factors for poor cardiovascular health between the ages of 45 and 65 could help reduce risk of cognitive decline Scientists claim to have identified three health measures in middle age that can ward off dementia for more than a decade. Having normal blood pressure, no type 2 diabetes, and not smoking between the ages of 45 and 65 were associated with almost 13 additional years, on average, of dementia-free life, a study shows. The research also suggested that, no matter how many risk factors people had, women lived longer without dementia than men, and that white people had more dementia-free years than black people. The findings were published in the medical journal Neurology. Researchers from NYU Langone Health analysed data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (Aric) study, which began in 1986 and followed Americans for decades into late life, measuring midlife vascular risk factors and dementia. In the new analysis, researchers looked at 12,409 people with an average age of 56 who were free of dementia. Participants were assessed for three risk factors: high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and smoking. They were then followed for about