The Facts

• The 2024 update of the medical journal Lancet's standing Commission on dementia has found "compelling evidence" for adding vision loss and high LDL cholesterol to a list of identified risk factors that increase the risk of developing the disease.The 2024 update of the medical journal Lancet's standing Commission on dementia has found "compelling evidence" for adding vision loss and high LDL cholesterol to a list of identified risk factors that increase the odds of developing the disease.

• The 2020 edition of the review had initially found 12 factors linked with the disease: alcohol abuse, hearing loss, smoking, obesity, polluted air, social isolation, high blood pressure, traumatic brain injuries, diabetes, depression, and a lack of physical activity and education.

• Lead author Dr. Gill Livingston says that the evidence suggests that dealing with the 14 risk factors could delay or prevent 45% of all dementia cases. Having high cholesterol at the age of 40 was connected with 7% of all dementia cases, while untreated vision loss was linked to 2%.