Better vascular health in midlife may help delay dementia
Managing blood pressure and blood sugar and avoiding smoking during midlife may help you live longer without dementia, according to new research.
August 5, 2026
*Reviewed by Sarah Song, MD, MPH, FAAN
Key takeaways
- In this study, people who had normal blood pressure, no diabetes, and did not smoke lived an average of nearly 13 years longer without dementia compared to those who had hypertension, diabetes, and smoked cigarettes.
- The more vascular risk factors a person had, the fewer years they were likely to live without dementia.
- The study does not prove that avoiding these risk factors prevents dementia.
A study published August 5, 2026, in Neurology® shows that keeping blood pressure in a healthy range, not having diabetes, and not smoking during midlife may help people live longer without dementia.
Researchers followed over 12,000 adults in the U.S. who did not have dementia at the start of the study. Participants were an average of 56 years old and were tracked for about 26 years. Researchers looked at and grouped together three major vascular risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking. They then compared how long people lived without developing dementia based on how many of those risk factors they had.
People with none of the three risk factors lived about 30 years without dementia after entering the study. In contrast, people who had all three risk factors lived an average of 17 and a half years without dementia.
In the study, women generally lived longer without dementia than men, regardless of how many risk factors they had. Researchers also found that White participants lived longer dementia-free than Black participants, who had a greater burden of risk factors.
Preventing vascular risk factors in midlife may be an important way to protect brain health as people age. However, this study only found an association. It does not prove that controlling these risk factors directly prevents dementia.
