A healthy lifestyle might reduce the risk for dementia, even in people with a high genetic risk, new research suggests. Over an average eight-year follow-up, people with the highest genetic risk were at a 91 percent higher risk for dementia compared with those with the lowest. Those with the worst lifestyle scores were at a 34 percent higher risk compared to those with the best. But people with both the worst lifestyle scores and the highest genetic risk were at nearly triple the risk of those with the best scores in both domains. There was no correlation between genetic risk score and lifestyle score, which suggests that lifestyle is an independent risk factor for dementia risk.

Source: New York Times July 16, 2019 17:25 UTC