German study identifies key modifiable dementia risk factors in prevention-focused adults

kellis
Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:55:37 +0200

On 3 April, researchers from Germany published an article on dementia risk factor assessment in a local Alzheimer’s prevention population in the Journal of Prevention of Alz-heimer’s Disease journal. The study examined which poten-tially modifiable dementia risk factors were most common in a highly educated, prevention-motivated group likely to seek Brain Health Services for dementia prevention.The researchers carried out the cross-sectional observa-tional “INSPIRATION” study with 162 participants from the local Cologne Alzheimer Prevention Registry. During a single visit, they assessed individual risk factors, provided personal feedback on risk profiles, and analysed the fre-quency and patterns of these factors, as well as their asso-ciations with cognition and Alzheimer’s disease plasma biomarkers.The most common risk factors in this population were obesi-ty, non-adherence to a Mediterranean diet, low subjective sleep quality, subjective experience of stress and hearing impairment. A principal component analysis identified six main domains: psychosocial factors, blood pressure, physi-cal condition, hearing impairment, lifestyle and substance use. The researchers found isolated associations between these domains, cognition and Alzheimer’s disease plasma biomarkers.The authors state that these findings provide initial insight into which risk factors may be most relevant and actionable for highly educated, prevention-motivated populations seek-ing dementia prevention support. They suggest that inter-ventions addressing psychosocial factors, physical condi-tion and lifestyle may be particularly relevant in comparable groups. The article has been published open access and can be read here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2274580726000804