Dementia Prevention: What You Can Do

Up to 45% of dementia cases may be preventable or delayed by addressing modifiable risk factors.  

Here’s what the evidence says and where to find support.

Overview

Dementia is now Australia’s leading cause of death, with an estimated 446,500 Australians living with the condition in 2026 — a number projected to more than double by 2065 without significant intervention.

While genetics play a role, growing evidence shows that lifestyle and health factors across the life course have a powerful influence on dementia risk. In 2026, the World Health Organization released its first major update to global dementia prevention guidelines in seven years, confirming that addressing modifiable risk factors could prevent or delay up to 45% of dementia cases worldwide.

This page brings together trusted, evidence-based resources to help you understand what you can do to support your brain health — and where to go for further information and support.

What the Evidence Shows

The World Health Organization updated their dementia prevention guidelines in 2026.

Proven protective factors include:

    • Maintaining a healthy diet (e.g., Mediterranean or MIND-style eating patterns)

    • Regular physical activity, including aerobic and strength exercise

    • Managing blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes

    • Not smoking, and limiting alcohol intake

    • Protecting hearing and vision, and using hearing aids where needed

    • Staying cognitively engaged (learning, reading, puzzles, new skills)

    • Staying socially connected and combating isolation

    • Reducing exposure to air pollution

    • Getting adequate, good-quality sleep

    • Managing depression and mental health

    • Avoiding traumatic brain injury

‘Risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia’
WHO guidelines, second edition

 

 

Why Midlife Matters

Many risk factors for dementia become relevant in midlife — often decades before any symptoms appear. This makes ages 40–65 a critical window for prevention, though it’s never too late to make changes that benefit brain health.

To help Australians combat these factors, the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing launched a new campaign to help Australians better understand their own dementia risk and make simple lifestyle changes early that could dramatically lower or delay their chances of developing the condition.

Australians turning 50 will have received a letter earlier this year (July- August 2026) to outline how they can reduce the risk of developing dementia and stay healthy for longer. You can read the letter here.

The 2024 update to the standing Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care added two new risk factors (high LDL cholesterol and vision loss) and indicates that nearly half of all dementia cases worldwide could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors.

Where to Get Support

For a Personal Risk Assessment

    • Speak with your GP about a midlife health check, including blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes screening

Resources For Further Reading

Further Support and Information

Related ADNeT Resources

ADNeT’s Role in Prevention Research

The Australian Dementia Network supports research and clinical infrastructure to advance dementia prevention, early diagnosis and new disease-modifying therapies across Australia — through our Registry, Memory Clinics network, and Screening for Trials initiative.

You can contact ADNeT by emailing adnet-info@unimelb.edu.au

DONATE TO DEMENTIA RESEARCH

Your donation will help our leading dementia scientists and researchers continue our quest to combat the disease.


Our dementia research and innovation focuses on:

  • Understanding the causes of dementia
  • Discovery and implementation of early detection
  • Development of speedy and accurate diagnosis
  • Development of effective prevention strategies
  • Discovery of effective treatment programs and therapies
  • Finding a cure for dementia