Three Midlife Habits Linked to 13 Extra Years Without Dementia, 26-Year Study Finds

Normal blood pressure, no type 2 diabetes and not smoking between ages 48 and 68 are associated with nearly 13 additional years of dementia-free life, an NYU Langone-led study of 12,409 people followed for up to 26 years finds. The results also reveal differences by sex and ethnicity.

Key Takeaways

Normal blood pressure, no type 2 diabetes and not smoking between ages 48 and 68 are associated with nearly 13 additional years of dementia-free life, an NYU Langone-led study of 12,409 people followed for up to 26 years finds.
The results also reveal differences by sex and ethnicity.

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Having normal blood pressure, no type 2 diabetes and not smoking between the ages of 48 and 68 is associated with nearly 13 additional years of dementia-free life on average, according to a new study led by NYU Langone Health, published online August 5 in Neurology Open Access.

The researchers analyzed data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, which began in 1986 and has followed participants for decades into late life, measuring midlife vascular risk factors and dementia. The current study looked at 12,409 people with an average age of 56 who were dementia-free at the start. Participants were assessed for three risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking. They were then followed for an average of 26 years. During that time, 3,008 developed dementia and 5,238 died without developing it. Those with none of the risk factors lived nearly 13 years longer without dementia than people with all three — 30 years from the start of tracking versus 17.

The team also examined how the risk factors influenced dementia-free survival across demographics. Women with all three risk factors lived an average of 18.1 years without dementia, compared to 16.6 years for men. White participants with all three risk factors lived 19.6 years without dementia on average, compared to 16.0 years for Black participants. "These results suggest that vascular risk reduction may benefit all groups, but that certain populations, such as Black adults, may especially benefit from targeted prevention efforts," said senior investigator Dr. Josef Coresh, founding director of the Optimal Aging Institute at NYU Langone. He stressed that actively avoiding these factors in midlife is a strategy for preserving brain health for more than a decade, noting that 42 percent of Americans are at risk of developing dementia at some point after age 55.

The authors caution that the study was not designed to prove that avoiding these risk factors causes the delayed dementia onset — only that they are associated — and that risk factors were measured just once, so changes over time were not captured.