There's a temptation to think that dementia is pre-written into your genes. If you're going to get it, there's nothing you can do about your fate. Scientists, however, are becoming increasingly confident that this is not the case.
As with many illnesses that don’t arise from accident or infection, dementia risk is a see-saw where genes and lifestyle can both tip the balance.
Genetic factors – like which variant of the APOE gene you carry – can certainly increase or decrease your chances, but so too can your diet, activity, behaviours, education and stress levels.
In fact, you, rather than your genes, may hold a greater share of the power.
In 2020, researchers at Rush University, Chicago, found that stacking four to five healthy lifestyle factors could lower your risk of dementia by as much as 60 per cent compared to people with zero to one of those factors.
