Does a Healthy Lifestyle Offset Genetic Risk of Dementia?

According to new research, living a healthy lifestyle may help offset a person's genetic risk of dementia.

The research - published in JAMA and presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2019 - shows that the risk of dementia was 32% lower in people with a high genetic risk if they had followed a healthy lifestyle, compared to those who had an unhealthy lifestyle.

Participants with high genetic risk and an unfavourable lifestyle were almost three times more likely to develop dementia compared to those with a low genetic risk and favourable lifestyle.

The study analysed data from 196,383 adults of European ancestry aged 60 and older from UK Biobank. The researchers identified 1,769 cases of dementia over a follow-up period of eight years. The team grouped the participants into those with high, intermediate and low genetic risk for dementia.

This research is exciting as shows that we can take action to try to offset our genetic risk for dementia.