A new study has found that the five measures to stave off dementia are taking regular exercise, not smoking, keeping a low body weight, eating a healthy diet and having a low alcohol intake.
The people who consistently followed four or five of these behaviors experienced a 60 per cent decline in dementia and cognitive decline- with exercise being the strongest mitigating factor- as well as 70 per cent fewer instances of diabetes, heart disease and stroke, compared with people who followed none.
"What the research shows is that following a healthy lifestyle confers surprisingly large benefits to health - healthy behaviors have a far more beneficial effect than any medical treatment or preventative procedure," Principle Investigator Professor Peter Elwood from Cardiff University's School of Medicine, said.
"Taking up and following a healthy lifestyle is however the responsibility of the individual him or herself. Sadly, the evidence from this study shows that very few people follow a fully healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, our findings reveal that while the number of people who smoke has gone down since the study started, the number of people leading a fully healthy lifestyle has not changed," he added.