New research has indicated looking after your health, particularly when middle aged, can be influential to preventing dementia later in life. 

Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia, claiming thousands of lives each year.

The research promotes four factors to preventing the disease: regular exercise, eating a Mediterranean diet, keeping an active brain and being socially engaged.

But the Honorary Medical Adviser to Dementia Australia, Associate Professor Michael Woodward, told Deborah Knight “even if we tick all the boxes, we’re not going to absolutely ensure that we don’t get dementia.”

Mr Woodward explained these factors are likely to reduce dementia because they promote more elastic blood vessels.

“Inflexible, rigid blood vessels cause more pressure downstream in the small blood vessels in the brain and that manifests dementia later in life.”

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Image: Getty