WHO adds seven dementia risk factors including stroke, sleep problems and air pollution

GENEVA - The World Health Organization released a second edition of its guidelines on reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, adding seven health conditions and exposures to the prior list, Fox News reported.

The new items are stroke, traumatic brain injury, vision impairment, sleep problems, HIV, air pollution and menopausal hormone therapy as a topic requiring careful evidence review. They join 12 factors carried forward from the 2019 edition, including physical inactivity, harmful alcohol use, tobacco, unhealthy diet, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, abnormal blood lipids, hearing loss, depression, and low cognitive or social activity.

WHO does not recommend menopausal hormone therapy specifically to prevent dementia in postmenopausal women 65 and older. For younger women, the agency said evidence is still insufficient to settle whether such therapy changes dementia risk. Dr. Daniel Amen of Amen Clinics told Fox News Digital that hormonal shifts in menopause can affect mood and memory for some women, but using hormones only as a dementia drug is not supported.

Stroke and other vascular disease remain central because blocked or damaged brain blood flow raises later dementia risk. Traumatic brain injury, even milder concussion-level injuries, can leave lasting cognitive and mood effects. Vision problems load extra demand on the brain; WHO said evidence is not strong enough to prescribe vision treatment solely for dementia prevention, though eye care still matters for daily function.

Sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, are widespread. CDC data cited in the report said 30.5% of U.S. adults in 2024 reported fewer than seven hours of sleep a day. Poor sleep is linked with brain changes that resemble Alzheimer's hallmarks in some research, though the relationship is still being studied. Untreated HIV can affect the central nervous system; modern antiretroviral therapy has sharply cut severe HIV-associated dementia. WHO also advises cutting household and outdoor fine-particle air pollution where possible, while rating that evidence certainty as low to very low.

Amen urged people to treat dementia prevention as a lifelong habit, not a project that starts at 65. Social activity, new learning, blood pressure control and honest sleep care remain the practical tools most readers can use now. A recent U.S. analysis cited in the coverage estimated about one in five people had developed dementia by age 85, with risk climbing further at older ages.