Recently, the World Health Organisation issued its report on Risk Reduction of Cognitive Decline and Dementia, which updated their guidelines that were originally published in 2019. The new edition reflects the result of a scoping review to determine whether new evidence has emerged regarding dementia risk reduction.
There is no widely accessible disease-modifying treatment or cure for dementia, so the WHO continues to promote the strategy of prevention measures over the course of life as the most effective means of reducing future incidence. “The guidelines reflect a life-course understanding of dementia risk, recognising that exposure to risk factors accumulates over time and that certain risk factors may have greater impact at specific life stages.”
Also, several dementia risk factors overlap with those of other noncommunicable diseases which emphasises the need for an integrated public health approach. The updated guidelines aim to identify interventions that effectively lower dementia risk, but they do not replace clinical guidance for managing each specific risk factor.
The WHO guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations on interventions and approaches that can support brain health and reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. These include:
• Promoting healthy behaviours, including regular exercise, eating a healthy balanced diet, training your brain with cognitive stimulation like puzzles or reading, staying social by connecting with friends and joining community groups, plus quitting smoking and reducing harmful alcohol use.
• Managing medical conditions including management of high blood pressure and maintenance of healthy cholesterol levels, obesity, diabetes, and using hearing aids to counter hearing loss.
• Addressing environmental risk factors, including exposure to air pollution which is linked to cognitive decline.
• Implementing interventions that target multiple risk factors simultaneously i.e. combining two or more distinct lifestyle, behavioural, or medical strategies at the same time to prevent or manage complex health conditions.
In summary, the recommendations are for maintaining an active, healthy lifestyle, with lots of social activity while applying common sense to dietary practices. The WHO report states that up to 45% of dementia risk can be prevented or delayed by targeting these modifiable factors.