To lower your dementia risk later in life, protect your heart in middle age


People who have heart disease risks in middle age – such as diabetes, high blood pressure or smoking – are at higher risk for dementia later in life, according to recent research.





·        41% higher in midlife smokers than in non-smokers or former smokers;

·        39% higher in people with high blood pressure in middle age, and 31% higher in those with pre-hypertension compared to those with normal blood pressure; and

·        77% higher in people with diabetes in middle age than in non-diabetics.


Overall, the risk of dementia was 11% lower in women.

The risk was highest in individuals who were black, had less than a high school education, were older, carried the gene known to increase Alzheimer’s risk, or had high blood pressure, diabetes or were current smokers at the time of initial evaluation.

Smoking and carrying the gene known to increase the chance of Alzheimer’s were stronger risk factors in whites than in blacks, the researchers noted.

