It’s Not Too Late To Avert Dementia After Age 60, Study Shows

There’s good news for older Americans at high-risk of developing dementia: simple steps to stay mentally and physically active improved thinking and helped keep Alzheimer’s disease at bay. And it didn’t take long.

Lifestyle changes including exercise, a better diet, and more mental and social activity yielded significant protection within two years, according to a large clinical trial published Monday. To qualify for the study, participants had to have various risk factors for brain decline, like consuming a poor diet and not exercising regularly. Others had a gene mutation tied to Alzheimer’s disease.

While brain function starts to worsen in a person’s sixties, the results indicate that switching up one’s routine even later in life can stall the onset of dementia. Making such changes appeared to slow the cognitive aging clock by one to two years, said Laura Baker, a professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest University of Medicine and one of the study leaders.

The key takeaways are to “move more, sit less, add color to your plate, learn something new, and stay connected,” Baker said at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, where the results were presented. “Challenge yourself to do this on a regular basis.”

For more information see Michelle Amponsah “It’s Not Too Late To Avert Dementia After Age 60, Study Shows,” Financial Advisor, July 29, 2025. 

Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.