Treatable risk factors for developing dementia include lower educational attainment, hearing loss, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, diabetes, social isolation, excessive alcohol consumption, air pollution, smoking, obesity, traumatic brain injury, depression and visual loss. They said there was “under-treatment” of several dementia risk factors, including hearing loss, with less than one third of older people with hearing loss reporting using hearing aids either some or all of the time. Treatment and control of key cardiovascular risk factors including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol were found to be particularly inadequate. “Many of the risk factors, such as hypertension, high cholesterol, physical inactivity and hearing loss, are modifiable through straightforward, cost-effective interventions,” she said. “The positive news is that many of the risk factors we’ve identified including hearing loss, high blood pressure or physical inactivity are treatable.

Source: The Irish Times November 13, 2025 10:32 UTC