How to Lower Your Risk for Alzheimer’s

Genes and age play a big role in susceptibility to the disease, but choices make a difference, too

Katie Peek

Colorful illustration showing a brain, a group of elderly people and a city on different levels. — Joelle Bolt

This article was produced in partnership with the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine’s board of editors.

Scientists are still learning about the causes of Alzheimer’s, but most agree that many factors contribute to an individual’s risk of getting the disease. Some risk factors, such as age and genes, are inescapable. Others can be modified with lifestyle changes, such as exercise and nutrition—in one study, participants were able to reduce their risk of getting Alzheimer’s by 60 percent. Although most risk studies focus on dementia in general, here are important findings about the known risk factors as they apply to Alzheimer’s.

Graphic illustration showing risk factors for Alzheimer's based on genetics, brain health, age, environment, lifestyle and body health — Katie Peek and Joelle Bolt; Sources: Risk factor relative importance: G. Livingston et al., *The Lancet*, 396, 413 (2020); normal brain aging: “Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias,” Mayo Clinic, 2020

This article is part of The New Age of Alzheimer’s, a special report on the advances fueling hope for ending this devastating disease.

Learn more here about the innovation ecosystem that Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is building to speed breakthroughs and end Alzheimer’s disease. Explore the transforming landscape of Alzheimer’s in this special report.