The World Health Organization (WHO) released updated guidelines and evidence-based recommendations to help people reduce their risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
The guidelines apply to adults with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment. They are intended primarily for healthcare providers, though they may help policymakers to support population-level interventions, the WHO said.
More than 57 million people have dementia worldwide and nearly 10 million people are diagnosed every year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and is estimated to account for 60% to 70% of cases. In the U.S., the number of people with Alzheimer's disease exceeds 7 million.
Up to 45% of dementia risks can be attributed to modifiable risk factors like smoking, alcohol use, social isolation, physical inactivity, air pollution, or diseases like hypertension and diabetes, according to the WHO report.
"We know more today than ever before about what drives dementia risk, and these guidelines translate that knowledge into action," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said in a statement.
