New dementia risk factors identified as action urged to prevent or delay 40pc of cases
- A range of policy actions including tackling air pollution and providing hearing aids could have a drastic effect on future dementia cases, study says
- Head injuries and excessive alcohol consumption in middle age, and exposure to air pollution later in life identified as new dementia risks
Up to 40 per cent of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed, according to a report published last week calling for urgent action on risk factors from excessive drinking to air pollution.
The number of people around the world living with dementia is expected to soar from around 50 million today to over 150 million by 2050.
But experts in a commission for the journal The Lancet said that a range of policy actions could dramatically reduce or delay cases, in updated research based on analysis of a wide variety of international studies.
The report said a lack of education in childhood, midlife hearing loss and smoking in older age accounted for 7 per cent, 8 per cent and 5 per cent of dementia cases respectively.
It also identified three new risks – head injuries and excessive alcohol consumption in middle age and exposure to air pollution later in life – which together are associated with 6 per cent of all cases.