Midlife vascular health was associated with nearly 13 more dementia-free years in a prospective U.S. cohort study.At age 55, healthier study participants averaged 30.1 additional years without dementia.Smoking, hypertension, and diabetes together sharply increased dementia risk and mortality.
Maintaining three key health factors during midlife -- normal blood pressure, no diabetes, and not smoking -- was associated with nearly 13 additional dementia-free years, a study of 12,000 people in the U.S. showed.
Individuals who met these criteria at age 55 lived an average 30.1 more years dementia-free, reported Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, of NYU Langone Health in New York City, and co-authors.
Conversely, those who smoked, had hypertension, and had diabetes at age 55 had dementia-free survival of only 17.5 years, Coresh and colleagues wrote in Neurology Open Access.
People with all three risk factors had a higher incidence of dementia (HR 2.69, 95% CI 1.94-3.73) and a higher incidence of dying before a dementia diagnosis (HR 5.61, 95% CI 4.67-6.74) compared with those who had no risk factors.
