Three Midlife Habits That Could Help Protect Your Brain

Key TakeawaysHealthy habits in middle age can significantly reduce dementia riskNormal blood pressure, no diabetes and no smoking lead to about 13 years longer without dementiaResearchers conclude that improving vascular health and avoiding smoking in midlife may preserve brain health later on.THURSDAY, Aug. 6, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Your brain's future may hinge on three key health factors in middle age.A study published Aug. 5 in the journal Neurology Open Access found that adults with normal blood pressure, no diabetes and no history of smoking between the ages of 45 and 65 lived dementia-free nearly 13 years longer than adults with all three risk factors."Our findings argue that people need to actively avert these factors in midlife as a strategy for preserving brain health for more than a decade," said senior author Dr. Josef Coresh, director of the Optimal Aging Institute at NYU Langone in New York City. "Discovering new ways to delay dementia is crucial with 42% of Americans at risk for developing the condition at any time after age 55," he added in a news release.His team followed more than 12,000 cognitively healthy people, who were 56 years old on average when the study began.Participants with none of the risk factors lived 30 years dementia-free, compared with just 17 years for those who had all three of them.No matter how many risk factors they had, women stayed dementia-free longer than men, the study found. And white participants had more dementia-free years than Black participants."Hopefully, these results will encourage people to stop smoking and watch their vascular health closely from age 45 on," Coresh said.He said the goal is to maintain brain health and extend dementia-free survival.More informationThe Alzheimer's Association has more on dementia.SOURCE: HealthDay TV, Aug. 6, 2026 .What This Means For YouTaking care of your health in your 40s, 50s and early 60s — especially by keeping your blood pressure under control, preventing diabetes and not smoking — can help keep your brain healthy..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Three Midlife Habits That Could Help Protect Your Brain

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