🎧 Audio Article
A groundbreaking 2025 study published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas has revealed that key risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) begin to affect your brain long before you hit middle age, as early as your late 20s and 30s.
This research, Risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive function before middle age in a U.S. representative population-based study, led by Dr. Allison Aiello from Columbia University, challenges the long-held belief that Alzheimer’s risk is something only seniors need to worry about. Instead, it sends a clear message: prevention must start young.
The Alzheimer’s Study
The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) — a large, population-based study that began in the mid-1990s. They followed over 15,000 participants from their teens into adulthood, focusing on two waves of data:
- Wave IV (2008): Median age ~28
- Wave V (2016–2018): Median age ~38
They looked at three main categories:
- Cardiovascular risk factors using the CAIDE score
- Brain biomarkers linked to Alzheimer’s (Tau and NfL)
- Inflammatory biomarkers (like IL-6 and hsCRP)
Key Findings
1. Your Lifestyle in Your 20s Affects Your Brainpower
The CAIDE score (Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia) includes factors like age, sex, education, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), cholesterol, and physical activity.
A higher CAIDE score — meaning more risk factors — was consistently linked to poorer performance in memory and focus tasks.
🧠 Even a one-point increase in CAIDE was linked to a drop in backward digit span scores, a measure of working memory.
2. Signs of Brain Degeneration Appear Early
Higher blood levels of total Tau, a protein linked with Alzheimer’s disease, were already linked to worse memory by the late 30s.
❗This suggests that physical signs of Alzheimer’s in the brain can start decades before symptoms appear.
3. Inflammation Damages the Brain Too
Chronic inflammation — even when young — was tied to lower cognitive function. This includes elevated levels of:
- IL-6 (Interleukin-6)
- hsCRP (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein)
- IL-8 and IL-1β
These immune system messengers rise during illness, obesity, stress, and poor diet.
🧪 Inflammatory markers were linked to worse scores in memory and focus tests.
4. Genetics Matter Less Than You Think — At Least Early On
Surprisingly, APOE ε4, a gene long linked to Alzheimer’s, had no effect on brain performance in this younger group.
🧬 This suggests that environment and lifestyle matter more in early brain health than genetics.
It is the same for Type 2 diabetes. Listen to the audio article below.
What Does This Mean for You?
Here’s the good news: many of the risk factors for Alzheimer’s are preventable.
Your daily choices affect your brain even in your 20s, 30s, and 40s. You don’t have to wait until you’re older to act.
🟨 Listen In:
Prefer to hear this part instead? Here’s a quick audio summary of what this groundbreaking study means for your brain — and how you can protect it today.
▶️ Press play below to listen.
🧠 Takeaway:
The takeaway is clear: you don’t have to wait for old age to fight Alzheimer’s.
Your lifestyle in your 20s, 30s, and 40s can either protect your brain — or quietly set the stage for cognitive decline.
Whether eating better, staying active, or managing your blood pressure, every smart choice adds up to stronger brain health later on.
Prevention Starts NOW:
- 🥗 Eat clean: Avoid ultra-processed and sugary foods that trigger inflammation.
- 🏃♂️ Move often: Aim for at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week.
- 🧘 Lower stress: Chronic stress worsens inflammation. Practice mindfulness or prayer.
- 🚭 Don’t smoke: Smoking increases brain shrinkage and inflammation.
- 🛌 Prioritize sleep: Deep sleep helps clear waste proteins like Tau from the brain.
- 🩺 Manage your numbers: Keep blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar in check.
Definitions
- CAIDE Score: A number that combines lifestyle and health data to estimate your future dementia risk.
- APOE ε4: A gene variant linked with higher Alzheimer’s risk in older adults.
- Tau and NfL: Brain proteins that can show early signs of brain cell injury.
- IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1β, TNF-α, hsCRP: Chemical messengers in the body that signal inflammation.
- Cognitive function tests: Tasks like word recall or remembering numbers backward that test memory and attention.
✅ Final Takeaway
🧠 Alzheimer’s doesn’t start at 70 — it starts in your 30s or earlier.
❤️ The best way to fight it is to live healthy now.The risk factors you control to prevent Alzheimer’s diseases can also prevent other diseases like metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis, Type 2 diabetes and many other common chronic conditions.
This study is a wake-up call. The earlier you care for your brain and body, the better your chances of living a long, sharp, independent life.
For more prevention-based insights and ways to fight disease before it starts, visit drjessesantiano.com.
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References:
Aiello, Allison E., et al. “Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Function Before Middle Age in a U.S. Representative Population-Based Study.” The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, vol. 45, 2025, p. 101087. Published online April 5, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2025.101087
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