A coalition of world-leading experts has issued the most urgent plea to date for the UK government to fundamentally reassess its strategy on dementia care. They have presented a comprehensive 56-point plan designed to prevent millions of future cases of the memory-robbing condition.
A Blueprint for Brain Health
The team, led by Dr Harriet Demnitz-King from Queen Mary University of London, has highlighted four critical areas requiring immediate governmental action. These encompass improving public health messaging, identifying and managing key risk factors, addressing broader environmental stressors, and committing to sustained research.
Dr Demnitz-King stressed that while evidence shows dementia risk can be reduced, this knowledge has not been translated into a coherent national strategy. "People need clear, evidence-based guidance on protecting their brain health, but the information they receive can be confusing or make them feel blamed," she explained. "What we need now is coordinated, structural action to develop dementia prevention policies that are equitable, realistic and grounded in the lives people actually lead."
Targeting Modifiable Risks
The recommendations build upon the work of the 2024 Lancet Commission, which identified 14 modifiable risk factors responsible for a significant proportion of dementia cases. The Commission found that almost half of all Alzheimer's disease cases could potentially be prevented by tackling issues such as:
- Hearing loss
- High blood pressure and cholesterol
- Physical inactivity
- Social isolation
- Vision loss
- Exposure to air pollution
Publishing their consensus in the journal Nature Reviews Neurology, the authors reiterated: "These findings underscore the value of prevention at multiple levels, but public awareness of dementia risk factors remains low."
A National Health Emergency
Professor Charles Marshall, a co-author of the study, emphasised the sheer scale of the challenge. "Dementia is now the leading cause of death in the UK, so we desperately need a clear public health plan to improve this situation," he stated.
The experts hope their work will catalyse a multi-pronged national response. This includes better public information campaigns, improved NHS protocols for recognising and managing conditions that elevate dementia risk, and long-term strategies to create healthier environments for brain health.
"We hope that this consensus will lead to better public messaging about dementia, improved recognition and management of other conditions that increase dementia risk, a strategy on structural approaches to improving brain health, and research that addresses gaps in our knowledge," Professor Marshall added.
The team concluded with a powerful vision: "Implementing our recommendations will ensure that as many people as possible live to old age without dementia." The ball is now firmly in the government's court to turn this expert blueprint into actionable policy.
