Three middle-age health rules could bring an extra 13 years without dementia, experts say

Avoiding three things during middle age could mean enjoying up to 13 extra years without dementia, a study has found.

Having normal blood pressure, no diabetes, and not smoking from age 45 to 65 keeps dementia at bay for well over a decade, research suggests.

Experts from New York University Langone Health studied more than 12,000 people who were free of dementia when they were aged 55.

Subjects were assessed for three key things affecting dementia risk - high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking, and followed for an average of 26 years.

Just over 3,000 people developed dementia, while roughly 5,200 people died without developing the illness.

Those who had none of the three risk factors lived without developing dementia nearly 13 years longer than those who had all three.

Non-smokers who didn't have diabetes or high blood pressure when the study started at age 55, lived for another 30.1 years dementia-free, the authors found.

Meanwhile, those with one risk factor survived another 26.3 years without dementia, those with two had 21 years, and those with three had just over 17 years.

Dr Josef Coresh, director of the Optimal Aging Institute at NYU Langone, said the findings suggest people "need to actively avert these factors in midlife as a strategy for preserving brain health for more than a decade".

Lifestyle choices, especially in midlife, can reduce the risk of developing dementia, according to previous research, with exercise, not smoking, watching alcohol intake, and not being socially isolated among the factors highlighted.

The new study said: "Individuals with no midlife vascular risk factors lived an average of 13 more dementia-free survival years compared to those with three risk factors."

The study also found that, no matter how many risk factors they had, women lived longer without dementia than men, and white people had more dementia-free years than black people.

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Dr Sonya Miller, of TauRx Therapeutics Management, said brain health "is as important as physical health, and the two cannot be separated".

She continued: "With dementia now being the nation's number one cause of death, we all need to take our brain health seriously and make the changes we can on an individual basis."

Dr Jacqui Hanley, head of research funding at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "While there is no guaranteed way to prevent dementia, research, including this study, suggests that addressing risk factors for poor cardiovascular health may also help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

Professor Ian Maidment, from Aston University, said the research "adds to the evidence, from multiple studies, that what is good for the heart is good for the brain.

"Not smoking, having blood pressure within the normal range, and avoiding diabetes delayed the onset of dementia for over 10 years."

(c) Sky News 2026: Three middle-age health rules could bring an extra 13 years without dementia, experts say