Cognitive Decline and Dementia Risk Reduction: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles and Blood Pressure Control

Abstract

There is an immediate need to increase public health focus on the prevention of Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD). The population upward shift in age drives this imperative, with 1 in 5 Americans expected to be aged ≥65 years by 2030.1 In 2020, there were an estimated 5.8 million people aged ≥65 years with ADRD in the U.S., and as the population ages, the number of people with ADRD is expected to reach 8.4 million by 2030 and 13.8 million by 2050.2 Research shows that the modifiable risk factors for ADRD are, for the most part, the same risks associated with cardiovascular disease.