Avoiding these three health risks could significantly reduce dementia

Protecting long-term brain health may start decades before memory concerns emerge. New research published in Neurology Open Access says having normal blood pressure, no diabetes and not smoking from age 48 to 68 are associated with nearly 13 years of average of dementia-free life. The study notes that women live longer without dementia than men regardless of risk factors, adding that women lived an average of 18.1 years longer without developing dementia, compared to 16.6 years for men. “Hopefully, these results will encourage people to stop smoking and watch their vascular health closely from age 48 on,” says senior study investigator Dr. Josef Coresh, founding director of Optimal Aging Institute at New York University’s Langone Health.