[ti:How to Lower Your Risk of Dementia Starting in Middle Age]
[al:Health & Lifestyle]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-02-11]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]New research suggests the risk of Americans developing dementia over a lifetime may be much higher than once thought. 
[00:12.91]A new study predicts about one million Americans will likely develop the disease each year by 2060. 
[00:21.40]That is about twice the number of people estimated in earlier studies.
[00:27.88]The new finding is based on a large study involving a team from major U.S. medical centers and other research organizations. 
[00:38.52]It recently appeared in the publication Nature Medicine.
[00:42.86]The study found that after age 55, people face up to a 42 percent chance of developing dementia, if they live long enough.
[00:54.09]The research showed the risk of dementia is highest after age 75. 
[01:01.30]But the good news is that there are steps people can take to reduce the risks.
[01:08.43]One of them is controlling high blood pressure and other conditions, such as diabetes or being severely overweight, meaning obese.
[01:18.87]Health experts advise everyone, even those in middle age, to take steps to avoid such problems.
[01:27.59]Dr. Josef Coresh of NYU Langone Health was a lead writer of the study. 
[01:34.77]He told The Associated Press, "All of our research suggests what you do in midlife really matters."
[01:44.16]It can be quite common for older people to take longer to remember a name or where they placed certain objects. 
[01:52.57]But research on dementia suggests it is not a normal part of aging. 
[01:58.27]Rather, the disease is a progressive loss of memory, language and other cognitive abilities over time.
[02:06.83]Getting older is currently the biggest risk and the U.S. population is aging at a fast rate.
[02:16.03]Dementia has many forms, the most common being Alzheimer's. 
[02:21.18]Because the disease is linked to silent changes in the brain, signs or symptoms of dementia might not start showing until many years later.
[02:33.66]Other kinds include vascular dementia, when heart disease or small strokes limit blood flow to the brain.
[02:42.64]Many people also have mixed causes, meaning vascular problems could worsen existing dementia.
[02:51.24]Dr. James Galvin is an Alzheimer's specialist at the University of Miami. 
[02:57.09]He noted that aging by itself is "not a guarantee that someone will develop dementia." 
[03:04.48]Galvin was not involved in the new study.
[03:08.66]But he said the latest findings on that support previous research.
[03:14.19]Earlier studies estimated about 14 percent of men and 23 percent of women would develop some form of dementia during their lifetime.
[03:26.30]Since women live longer than men, they are more likely to get it.
[03:32.53]But the latest research examined more recent data from a U.S. study that followed the heart health and cognitive abilities of about 15,000 older adults from 1987 until 2020. 
[03:47.66]In that group, the risk for dementia averaged 35 percent for men and 48 percent for women.
[03:57.13]One reason for the different rates is that the group of people studied lived longer. 
[04:03.59]The study shows how the risk changes with additional years of life. 
[04:08.96]Only 4 percent of people developed dementia between the ages of 55 and 75.
[04:17.04]Coresh describes this difference as an important 20-year window for protecting brain health.
[04:25.33]For people surviving common health threats until 75, the dementia risk then jumped - to 20 percent by age 85 and 42 percent between the ages of 85 and 95.
[04:40.79]Black Americans had a slightly higher risk, 44 percent, than white individuals at 41 percent.
[04:50.62]There are some health risks people cannot control.
[04:55.11]Besides age, people can inherit a gene version, or variant, called APOE4.
[05:02.82]This can raise the risk of getting Alzheimer's later in life.
[05:07.77]But medical researchers have identified some things people can do to delay, or possibly even prevent developing dementia. 
[05:17.64]The University of Miami's Galvin advises people to exercise, avoid obesity and control blood pressure. 
[05:26.91]He noted that, "What's good for your heart is good for your brain."
[05:32.67]Stay socially and cognitively active, too, Galvin said.
[05:37.36]He urges people to try hearing aids if age brings hearing loss, which can create social isolation.
[05:47.75]He added, "There are things that we have control over, and those things I think would be really, really important to build a better brain as we age."
[06:00.42]I'm Jill Robbins.