According to a report by the Commission for the Prevention and Treatment of Dementia in 'The Lancet ', and covered by ABC, up to 35% of cases of dementia can be prevented by addressing nine risk factors associated with lifestyle.

Nearly 47 million people around the world currently suffer from dementia - between 60 and 70% have Alzheimer. Experts warn that these figures will reach 66 million by 2030 and 115 million by 2050. The good news is that many of these cases can be prevented.

The study concludes that there are nine risk factors that significantly increase the probability of suffering from dementia, maintaining that one in three dementia cases, or 35%, can be attributed to these risk factors.

Reduce the risk

Experts recommend being aware of three moments:

1. Take into account that reducing the risk of dementia starts in childhood. Education should be promoted.

2. Once adults are middle aged, they should treat hearing loss, high blood pressure and obesity. By avoiding these risk factors, together with prevention in childhood, the risk of dementia can be lowered by up to 20%.

3. In the later stages of life, it's important to completely quit the use of tobacco, treat depression, increase physical activity, boost social contact and treat diabetes. These measures alone lower the risk of dementia another 15%.

BBVA - Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA published this content on 21 July 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 July 2017 10:14:10 UTC.

Original documenthttps://www.bbva.com/en/todays-number-dementia/

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