What We’re Learning From People Who Reach 90 Without Dementia

Good Morning.

Reaching your 90s without dementia might seem like crossing some invisible finish line.

If your memory and thinking have remained intact for nine decades, it's tempting to assume you've escaped much of the risk.

Researchers are discovering that dementia doesn't work that way.

A new study followed more than 800 people who entered their 90s without dementia. The participants, whose median age was 92, were evaluated every six months as part of the LifeAfter90 study, giving researchers a rare look at what happens to cognitive health at ages that have historically been difficult to study.

What they found was striking.

Many of the differences in dementia risk seen earlier in life were still present after 90. Women in the study had about twice the risk of men. Genetics continued to matter as well. People carrying APOE2, a gene variant known to offer some protection against Alzheimer's disease, had a 60 percent lower risk of developing dementia.

APOE4, the best-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's, produced a more complicated picture. It wasn't associated with substantially greater dementia incidence across the entire group, although researchers found higher risks among certain participants.

But tucked inside the findings was another puzzle.

Some participants had lived with established dementia risk factors, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol, since their 60s and 70s and still reached their 90s cognitively healthy. Even some people carrying APOE4 had made it that far without dementia.

Researchers now want to know why.

Something may have helped these people remain resilient despite risks that had followed them for decades. Identifying those biological or environmental factors could eventually help scientists understand how cognitive health might be protected in others.

As more people live into their 90s and beyond, questions like these are becoming increasingly important.

A healthy brain at 90 is an extraordinary achievement.

The new research suggests there's still more to learn about what happens next.

Source: UC Davis Health. Research published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

Longevity

The Long Game
One small thing for a longer life

Try This

This week, share a meal with someone, phones away.

It sounds almost too simple to count, but research has found that people who eat with others more often tend to be happier, more trusting, more connected to their communities, and have more people they can count on. The interesting part: the researchers found evidence that eating together may help create that closeness, rather than simply being something close people do.

A table and a little unhurried time can do a lot.

Connection is one of the six factors that shape how well we age. The Worthyest Longevity Index measures all six in 4 minutes. Yours, personalized. Get my score →

Source: Dunbar, “Breaking Bread: The Functions of Social Eating,”

The Curiosity Edit

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Modern Living:

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Health & Wellness

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The Conscious Plate:

Food, Nutrition & Elevated Living

More Than What’s on the Label

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Final Note

This is what we leave you with. A thought to end the day, carry in your pocket, or come back to later. Nothing big. Just something to reflect on.

The Trouble With Later

The phrase "I'll do it later" has launched countless future inconveniences.

“Later” usually feels like a perfectly reasonable place to put something. The problem is that when later finally arrives, it tends to bring a few things of its own.

Pass It On

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