Rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are on the rise, and a sobering 2024 study projected that cases of the incurable and progressive neurodegenerative disease are expected to double by 2060.
Not everyone gets dementia, and no one fully understands why one person develops it while another doesn’t. This uncertainty can be scary.
“A lot of folks are concerned they will develop dementia because someone in their family did,” says Stacey Lipio Brothers, a clinical neuropsychology postdoctoral fellow at the Ohio State University in Columbus.
Genetics can play a role in developing the disease, but having a family history does not mean someone is “destined to develop dementia,” she says.
You can’t change your genetics, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that you may be able to influence your overall risk by making some smart changes to habits and lifestyle now. There are many things you can do in your 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s to help lower your risk of developing dementia later in life. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that up to 45% of dementia risk can be attributed to modifiable risk factors, meaning that you can influence your risk of developing dementia later in life.
Read on to learn more about specific lifestyle adjustments and healthy habits you can adopt early to lower your risk decades from now.
[Read: How Foods and Drinks Affect Our Mental Health]
Checklist for Your Dementia Risk Now
Certainly, not all risk is modifiable, but the following actions and habits can help set you up for a lifetime of good cognitive health.
General healthy habits that reduce your dementia risk often overlap with habits that reduce your risk for other diseases, improve your mental health and help you age healthily.
Here are five general categories and the specific actions you can take now that can reduce your risk for dementia:
| Health Category | Dementia prevention activity |
| Physical exercise and movement for brain health |
— Dance to activate your hippocampus — Join a gym or recreational sports league — Walk 4,000 or more steps per day |
| Social interaction and emotional well-being |
— Be intentional about staying socially active — Address mental health issues early |
| Cognitive stimulation and brain health habits |
— Travel to and explore new places — Pick up a new hobby — Prevent head injuries — Prioritize sleep |
| Nutrition for cognitive health |
— Reduce alcohol consumption — Read food labels |
| Essential preventative screenings |
— Schedule regular dental visits and cleanings — Manage heart conditions — Get your hearing checked — Treat sleep apnea — Get a neurocognitive exam now |
[READ: Activities for Cognitive Health]
Physical exercise and movement for brain health
Exercise is one of the best ways to help reduce your risk of dementia. The following activities are especially good options.
Dance to activate your hippocampus
Singh says one of the most surprising things she’s seen that helps reduce risk is dancing. “Processing rhythm, memorizing steps and the complexity of coordination helps to activate the brain’s memory center, called the hippocampus,” she explains.
Join a gym or recreational sports league
The body is built to move, and moving more can boost your overall health and well-being. Starting a gym membership, joining a recreational sports league or getting into an exercise class schedule can make that movement into a healthy habit. Investing in exercise now provides a return on your future cognitive health.
Specifically in the realm of cutting dementia risk, “regular exercise starting in middle age or even younger may help reduce the risk of developing dementia,” Tavee says.
Walk 4,000 or more steps every day
One of the most important things you can do is stay active, and experts recommend logging 150 minutes of physical activity per week as a baseline standard for heart health and overall well-being.
“At minimum, I encourage my patients to walk 20 to 30 minutes after dinner,” says Dr. Richa S. Singh, a neurologist with Providence Mission Hospital in Orange County, California. She notes that a large prospective cohort study of nearly 80,000 people conducted in the U.K. and published in 2022 demonstrated that accumulating more steps per day cut dementia risk. The study found that the optimal number of steps per day was 9,800, which cut dementia risk roughly in half. But reaching just 3,800 steps per day was associated with a 25% risk reduction.
[READ: Mind-Blowing Benefits of Exercise: Why Exercise Is Important]
Social Interaction and Emotional Well-BeingConnecting with others is great for your brain. Here are two ways to do that.
Be intentional about staying socially active
Loneliness and social isolation are key risk factors for cognitive decline.
“Staying socially connected, whether through friends, family, community activities, volunteering or even the companionship of a pet can provide mental stimulation,” says Singh.
Staying social and keeping your schedule busy may be just as important for brain health as many of the other modifiable risk factors, she adds.
Here are a few ways to be intentional about your socialization as a young adult:
— Join a nonprofit or volunteer group that meets at a scheduled time every week or few weeks
— Look for local restaurants with trivia nights or social events to add to your calendar
— Check out event postings at your local coffee shop or park and choose a few each month to attend
— Schedule check-in calls with friends who don’t live nearby
Address mental health issues early
Having depression or another mood disorder can increase your risk of developing dementia, Evans says. If you’ve been feeling down or otherwise off, check in with your primary care or a mental health care provider to identify issues and intervene to reduce your risk.
These days, online telehealth mental health providers are accessible and usually inexpensive with insurance coverage. Check out online resources and establish a relationship with a mental health provider even if you’re not 100% sure it’s necessary.
Cognitive Stimulation and Brain Health Habits
Travel to and explore new places
Going to new places and getting out of your normal routine can be cognitively challenging but also a lot of fun. This intellectual stimulation and enjoyment provides a double whammy to help you reduce your risk of dementia.
Studies have suggested that tourism can help reduce risk of dementia, but you don’t necessarily need time or money to reap the benefits. Researchers suggest that it’s the novelty of travel that provides brain health benefits. Other new and stimulating activities can also have protective effects, so it can be as simple as switching up your routine this weekend to hike a new trail, visit a new restaurant or explore a new museum in your city.
Pick up a new hobby
Engaging in a new hobby can challenge your brain to build new neural networks. Research has shown that activities that force you to learn and think foster more neuroplasticity that can keep your brain young. For example, this 2023 study found that people who engaged in hobbies between the ages of 40 and 60 had a lower risk of disabling dementia when rechecked years later. And the more hobbies a person had, the lower their risk of dementia went. Hobbies included in this study included golf and travel, but there are loads of good options including craft making, learning a new language or learning any other new complex skill.
Really, any way you use your brain can help. Read books. Do puzzles. Take educational classes. Try new things. Meet new people. Join a book club. All of these activities require your brain to work, which helps preserve cognitive function for the long term. Use it or lose it, as the old adage says.
Prevent head injuries
Receiving repeated blows to the head as can occur when boxing or playing other contact sports significantly elevates your risk of developing dementia later in life.
But head injuries can come in other ways too, so make it a habit to always wear a seat belt when driving or riding in a car. Always wear a helmet when riding a bike, skateboarding, skiing or engaging in other fast-paced activities where you’re at risk of falling.
If you develop a concussion or have a head injury, get medical attention as quickly as possible and follow your provider’s advice for rest and rehabilitation. A 2025 study found that people who received neuro-rehabilitative care within a week of sustaining a traumatic brain injury had a 41% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease over the following three years compared with people who started treatment more than one week after the injury.
Prioritize sleep
“Sleep is beneficial and restorative for brain function,” says Dr. Michelle Evans, a neurologist with Orlando Health Neuroscience Institute in Florida.
While the specific amount of sleep you need can vary based on your age and activity level, generally speaking most of us need a minimum of seven to nine hours per night.
Dr. Jinny Tavee, professor of medicine and chief of the division of neurology in the department of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, adds that aiming for a minimum of seven hours a night is an “important habit” that you can work on starting in your 20s and 30s. She also cautions that while lots of people think you can catch up on sleep, if you get into an unhealthy habit, that becomes increasingly difficult to correct as you get older.
Nutrition for cognitive health
There’s more to using nutrition to prevent dementia than just eating right.
Reduce alcohol consumption
Researchers are increasingly finding that any amount of alcohol can increase your risk of several conditions, including dementia. “If you can reduce or even cut out alcohol, it may help reduce your risk of dementia over time,” Tavee says.
Read food labels
Adopting a healthy diet is proven to help with reducing your risk of developing dementia.
Beyond simply eating a heart-healthy diet, watch your sugar intake, Tavee warns. Opt for whole foods and stay away from ultra-processed foods.
“One of the best pieces of advice that I’ve ever received with respect to nutrition is to look at labels. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t buy it,” Tavee says.
Essential Preventative Screenings
Stay one step ahead by staying on top of your overall health and well-being by completing the following exams and tests:
Schedule regular dentist visits and cleanings
It might seem surprising, but there’s a link between poor oral health and dementia. Chronic gum disease and tooth loss both increase the risk of cognitive decline.
Plus, bacteria in the mouth can enter the bloodstream and trigger inflammation while accelerating the amyloid plaque buildups that cause dementia. Visit a dentist twice per year for cleanings and exams to ensure all is well in your mouth.
Manage heart conditions
What’s good for the heart is good for the brain, so engaging in regular physical activity and eating a heart-healthy diet are also good for supporting brain health.
It’s also important to manage any vascular health conditions you may have such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, Lipio Brothers adds.
If you’re a young person who hasn’t seen a primary care provider recently, take this as a sign to schedule that appointment. Vascular health is an indicator of cognitive health, and uncontrolled high blood pressure is a major risk factor for dementia.
Get your hearing checked
Regular hearing tests can help you spot issues with hearing loss early, before it increases your risk of dementia. “Hearing loss can easily be fixed with a hearing test and hearing aids,” Evans says, and such interventions can slow or halt the progression of hearing loss that can contribute to the development of dementia.
Don’t wait until there’s a clear problem to get help for hearing loss. Often, hearing loss begins gradually in your 30s and 40s. Being aware early can help reduce the impact it has on your brain.
Treat sleep apnea
Undiagnosed sleep apnea can have significant health consequences, including memory loss, Evans says. If you’re feeling sleepy a lot during the day or your partner mentions you’ve been snoring, talk with your primary care provider and schedule a sleep test to look for obstructive sleep apnea.
Get a neurocognitive exam now
“Talk with your provider about whether completing a neuropsychological evaluation to establish a baseline of your thinking and memory skills would be helpful so you can monitor for any change in the future,” Lipio Brothers says.
The Alzheimer’s Association recommends having a conversation with your health care provider about cognitive and brain health every year during your annual wellness visit beginning at age 55 and to start cognitive screenings at age 65. But if you have a strong family history of dementia, ask your provider whether they recommend starting such screenings earlier.
| Age Range | Key Dementia Prevention Screenings |
| 20s and 30s | Dental cleanings (bi-annual), annual primary care visits |
| 40s and 50s | Routine hearing assessments, blood pressure, blood sugar and sleep apnea evaluations |
| 55+ | Annual cognitive health discussions with primary care provider |
| 65+ | Formal neurocognitive/psychological evaluations |
What Else to Know About Reducing Dementia Risk Now
If you’re worried about your risk of developing dementia or think your cognitive capabilities are changing, speak with your health care provider. They can do some initial tests and help you understand when to involve a neurologist.
“This can help to diminish the fear associated with the unknown and help plan for the future,” Singh says.
She underscores that Alzheimer’s is a clinical diagnosis, “which means there is not a single blood test or brain image that can confirm the presence of cognitive impairment.”
FAQs
More from U.S. News
13 Common Health Superstitions Debunked: Facts vs. Folklore
Reducing Microplastics in the Body and Home: A Science-Backed Guide
Chronic Pain: Ranking the Most Painful Medical Conditions
16 Early Steps You Can Take in Your 20s and 30s to Prevent Dementia originally appeared on usnews.com
