Seven healthy habits can reduce the risk of dementia.
A healthy diet is a key habit for lowering the risk of dementia
A US study followed 13,720 women with an average age of 54 over a period of two decades and have recommended some key habits and lifestyle changes to help people in midlife stave off the decline of brain function.
The experts found that being active, consuming a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, keeping blood pressure at a normal level, controlling cholesterol and having low blood sugar were some of the important factors that could lower the risk of dementia.
Participants were given a score from zero to seven for each of the health factors and researchers found that for every increase of one point, a person's risk of suffering from dementia was reduced by six per cent.
Pamela Rist, an assistant professor from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said: "Since we now know that dementia can begin in the brain decades before diagnosis, it's important that we learn more about how your habits in middle age can affect your risk of dementia in old age.
"The good news is that making healthy lifestyle choices in middle age may lead to a decreased risk of dementia later in life."