Exercise Could Prevent Almost Half of Dementia Cases

A study from researchers at Curtin University and published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity last week found that nearly half of all dementia cases could be prevented with consistency in certain behaviors, including maintaining an exercise regimen, not smoking, access to education, not drinking in excess, getting adequate sleep and building strong relationships with other people. Current public health strategies aren’t translating that awareness into actual behavior change. Study co-author and Curtin University Professor Mario Siervo told Newsweek that the findings show a disconnect between what people know and what they do. Up to 45% of dementia cases are linked to factors that can be changed such as our lifestyle, health status and environment.

Another related Curtin-led study, published in Clinical Nutrition this March, shows that muscle strength and body composition are significant and previously underappreciated factors in dementia risk. Following nearly 500,000 adults over more than a decade, researchers found that people with sarcopenic obesity, which indicates both low muscle strength and excess body fat, face a higher risk of developing dementia. But obesity alone wasn’t linked to increased risk when muscle strength was preserved.

Laura Bojarskaite, a neuroscientist at the University of Oslo, added that in this case, “preventable dementia” comes with caveats. “Preventable is a population estimate, not a personal guarantee,” she said. “It means that if these risk factors were removed across an entire population, up to this share of cases might be avoided or delayed. It doesn’t mean an individual can guarantee they’ll never develop dementia by ticking boxes, and it shouldn’t become a new source of blame for people who do.”

For the Lancet study, researchers examined prevention campaigns across eight countries and found that large-scale awareness campaigns reach wide audiences but produce limited behavior shifts and small gains in knowledge. Interactive approaches were more effective, including online programs walking people through practical brain-health steps, personalized risk assessments and community-based programs led by trusted local figures like peer educators and health workers. Programs combining culturally-relevant content in familiar settings with realistic goal-setting, unsurprisingly, drove the most lasting change.