The episode also uses the Lancet Commission 2024 update as a hopeful frame: a substantial proportion of dementia cases may be delayed or prevented at a population level by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors across the lifespan (including untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol, newly added in 2024).

The Lancet Commission’s estimate is about population attributable risk: what could happen if a whole community reduced certain risks. It is not a personal scorecard, and it should never be used for blame or shame.

The Lancet Commission groups risk factors across life stages, and the 2024 update expanded the list from 12 to 14, adding untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol.

Early life

1. Less education

Midlife

2. Hearing loss

3. Depression

4. Traumatic brain injury (head injury)

5. Physical inactivity

6. Diabetes

7. Smoking

8. Hypertension

9. Obesity

10. Excess alcohol use

11. High LDL cholesterol (new in 2024)

Late life

12. Infrequent social contact / social isolation

13. Air pollution

14. Untreated vision loss (new in 2024)

Key point: these percentages and estimates describe what might shift at the population level, not your individual fate.

Untreated hearing loss can reduce conversation quality, increase effortful listening, and contribute to withdrawal from social connections—one of the pathways researchers discuss in dementia risk models.

Practical steps mentioned

• Book a hearing assessment and repeat as advised
• If hearing aids are recommended, build routines that make consistent use easier (placement, charging, simplifying access)

Resource mentioned

• hearWHO: a free World Health Organization hearing screening app using digits-in-noise technology (screening only, not diagnostic).

Vision problems are not only about “seeing clearly.” Under-corrected vision can increase cognitive burden and reduce confidence with reading, driving, and social engagement. The Lancet Commission 2024 identifies untreated vision loss as a modifiable risk factor for dementia.

Practical steps mentioned

• Routine eye exams and timely updates to prescriptions
• Ask whether a retina exam is appropriate (especially if living with hypertension or diabetes)

Smell is tightly linked with memory and emotion. Reduced smell has been studied as a possible early signal in some neurodegenerative conditions, and the episode discusses practical way...