A study, recently published in the journal Nature Human Behavior (IF: 30) by the clinical research team of Prof. Yu Jintai from the Department of Neurology at Fudan University-affiliated Huashan Hospital, comprehensively mapped the modifiable risk factors for dementia for the first time. The research explored their joint effect on dementia and predicted that 47% to 72.6% of dementia cases could be prevented through active interventions. It also suggests that a favorable living environment, lifestyle, physical indicators, reduction of co-morbidities and improvement of socio-economic status can mitigate the genetic risk.
The study published by Prof. Yu’s team used a non-hypothesis-driven paradigm for the first time to simultaneously assess the correlation between a large number of modifiable risk factors and dementia and map the modifiable risk factors for dementia. This large cohort study offers an optimistic outlook: more cases of dementia may be preventable by eliminating modifiable risk factors which are protective even in populations facing high genetic risks. Professor Yu Jintai exolained that good health should be maintained in areas that are easy to change at an individual level, such as lifestyle, physical indicators, and psycho-spiritual factors; he also called on relevant organizations to pay more attention to living environment and socio-economic conditions, such as combating air pollution, and improving employment and education.