- 1,004studies on this subject, of 27,380 in the library
- 979peer-reviewed
- 1984–2026years published
- 55median usefulness score out of 100
These counts and lists are worked out from the library itself each time the page loads. A score rates how much weight a study can bear — its design, journal, evidence and recency — not whether its result is good news. How we score a study. For a plain-English guide to this subject, see Prevention.
The 20 highest-scoring studies
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Trial of the MIND Diet for Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Older Persons
In this randomized trial, people without cognitive impairment who followed the MIND diet showed no significant difference in cognition or brain MRI results after three years compared with those on a control diet. It does not support the MIND diet as a way to prevent cognitive decline.
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Association of Blood Pressure Lowering With Incident Dementia or Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
This meta-analysis of 14 randomized clinical trials with 96,158 participants found that blood pressure lowering with antihypertensive agents was significantly associated with a reduced risk of dementia or cognitive impairment. It supports treating high blood pressure as a way to lower dementia risk, though it does not show a treatment or cure for people who already have dementia.
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A 2 year multidomain intervention of diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring versus control to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people (FINGER): a randomised controlled trial
In this two-year randomised trial in at-risk older people, a combined programme of diet, exercise, cognitive training and vascular risk monitoring produced a small, statistically significant advantage over control in the yearly change of a cognitive test-battery score (difference 0·022 per year; 95% CI 0·002–0·042). The authors say this "suggest[s]" such a programme "could improve or maintain cognitive functioning"; the record reports no dementia outcomes. Adverse events were more common with the intervention (7% vs 1%), mostly musculoskeletal pain.
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Hearing intervention versus health education control to reduce cognitive decline in older adults with hearing loss in the USA (ACHIEVE): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial
In this US randomised trial of older adults with hearing loss, a hearing intervention did not change 3-year cognitive decline compared with a health education control: both groups declined by about 0·2 SD (difference 0·002, p=0·96), and no significant study-related adverse events were reported in either group. A prespecified sensitivity analysis found the effect differed between the trial's two cohorts (ARIC and de novo; p interaction =0·010), which the authors say suggests a hearing intervention "might" reduce cognitive change in older adults at increased risk of decline. That is a secondary signal, not a shown benefit.
- Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: meta-analysis
- Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Trial: Genetic Resource for Precision Nutrition
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Mediterranean Diet and Age-Related Cognitive Decline: A Randomized Clinical Trial
In this randomized trial of an older population, 334 participants had follow-up cognitive tests after a median of 4.1 years. The group assigned to a Mediterranean diet plus olive oil scored better than the control-diet group on two tests (RAVLT, P = .049; Color Trail Test part 2, P = .04), with no differences on the other tests. The study measured test scores, not dementia, so it does not show that this diet prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.
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Blood pressure reduction and all-cause dementia in people with uncontrolled hypertension: an open-label, blinded-endpoint, cluster-randomized trial
In this cluster-randomized trial of 33,995 people in rural China with uncontrolled hypertension, an intensive blood pressure reduction programme significantly lowered the risk of all-cause dementia compared with usual care. It indicates that intensive blood pressure control can reduce dementia risk in people with hypertension, but it does not address treating or curing dementia once it has developed.
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Effect of a 24-Month Physical Activity Intervention vs Health Education on Cognitive Outcomes in Sedentary Older Adults: The LIFE Randomized Trial
In this randomized trial, a 24-month moderate-intensity physical activity program did not improve global or domain-specific cognitive function compared with a health education program in sedentary older adults. Some subgroups aged 80 or older and those with poorer baseline physical performance showed better executive function changes, but the main result was no overall benefit.
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A Meta-analysis of Loneliness and Risk of Dementia using Longitudinal Data from >600,000 Individuals
People who reported feeling lonely had about 31% higher risk of all-cause dementia, with higher risk for Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia specifically, even after accounting for depression and social isolation. This identifies loneliness as a risk factor, but the pooled observational data cannot show that reducing loneliness prevents dementia.
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Association of the Mediterranean Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Diet With the Risk of Dementia
This analysis of three cohort studies plus a meta-analysis found that higher MIND diet scores were linked to lower dementia risk. Because it is observational, it shows an association and cannot prove that the diet prevents dementia.
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Effect of Aspirin on Cardiovascular Events and Bleeding in the Healthy Elderly
In 19,114 healthy adults aged 70+ (65+ for Black and Hispanic participants in the US), daily 100 mg aspirin did not clearly lower heart attacks, strokes or heart failure over a median 4.7 years (10.7 vs 11.3 events per 1000 person-years; hazard ratio 0.95, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.08). It did raise major bleeding (8.6 vs 6.2 per 1000 person-years; hazard ratio 1.38). The trial's dementia result is reported in a separate paper, so this study offers no evidence that aspirin prevents Alzheimer's.
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GWAS on family history of Alzheimer's disease
This genome-wide association study identified three new Alzheimer's disease-associated loci containing genes relevant for Alzheimer's disease and neurodegeneration, and reported that the association of SNPs in TOMM40 with Alzheimer's disease is potentially mediated by gene expression and DNA methylation. It states these loci may help elucidate biological mechanisms and warrant further exploration for potential precision medicine applications, so the work is preliminary and reports no treatment or cure.
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Physical Activity and Cognitive Decline Among Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
This meta-analysis of 104 studies found that physical activity was associated with better late-life cognition, but the association was weak, and there was no significant association in follow-ups longer than 10 years. The findings do not show that physical activity prevents cognitive decline.
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Blood pressure lowering and prevention of dementia: an individual patient data meta-analysis
This pooled analysis of individual participant data from five randomized placebo-controlled trials, including 28,008 people, found that antihypertensive treatment reduced the risk of incident dementia with a mean blood pressure lowering of 10/4 mmHg. It supports blood pressure lowering as a way to reduce dementia risk in hypertensive patients, but it is about prevention rather than treating existing dementia.
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Prevalence, incidence, and factors associated with pre-stroke and post-stroke dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
This systematic review examined the prevalence and risk factors for dementia before and after stroke. It aimed to clarify conflicting data to help inform patients, carers, and service planning.
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Menopausal hormone therapy and health outcomes during the intervention and extended poststopping phases of the Women's Health Initiative randomized trials
This report on menopausal hormone therapy found a complex pattern of risks and benefits, with some outcomes like breast cancer and heart disease showing increased risk during the intervention phase. It did not focus on dementia outcomes.
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Worldwide prevalence of mild cognitive impairment among community dwellers aged 50 years and older: a meta-analysis and systematic review of epidemiology studies
This systematic review and meta-analysis found the overall global prevalence of mild cognitive impairment among community dwellers aged 50 and older was 15.56%. Prevalence increased with age and decreased with education level, and the authors say assessment and interventions targeting mild cognitive impairment within at-risk subgroups should be considered toward dementia prevention.
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Blood Pressure, Antihypertensive Use, and Late-Life Alzheimer and Non-Alzheimer Dementia Risk: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis
This individual participant data meta-analysis of 31,250 people found that antihypertensive use was associated with decreased Alzheimer dementia risk but not non-Alzheimer dementia risk throughout late life. It suggests that treating hypertension in late life remains important for reducing Alzheimer dementia risk, though it does not show a treatment or cure.
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Association of Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants With Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
This meta-analysis of 31 studies with 137,484 participants found that hearing aid and cochlear implant use was associated with a 19% decrease in hazards of long-term cognitive decline and a 3% improvement in short-term cognitive test scores. It suggests hearing restoration may help reduce cognitive decline, but it does not show a treatment or cure for dementia.
See all 1,004 studies in Prevention and risk, with filters →
Newest additions on this subject
- Constraint Based Metabolic Modeling Identifies Robust Biomarkers and Therapeutic Target Combinations in Alzheimer Disease
- The Gut–Liver–Brain Axis in Neurodegeneration: Unraveling Metabolic–Immune Crosstalk from Peripheral Sensing to Central Vulnerability
- Magnetic Field–Enhanced Docosahexaenoic Acid Delivery for Acetylcholine Restoration in Alzheimer’s Disease: an In Silico Study
- Clinically Recognised Alcohol Use Disorder and Risk of Dementia Subtypes in 1.3 Million Women: A Prospective Cohort Study
- Public awareness of the hearing loss-dementia link and self-reported behavioral changes in middle- to older-aged Canadians
- Patterns of modifiable lifestyle, behavioural and health-related risk factors and their associations with incident dementia in UK Biobank
- Aging and Alcohol Withdrawal Escalate CNS Hyperexcitability Across the Lifespan
- Varenicline as a Repurposable Drug Candidate for ADRD Prevention
- Late Life Learning, Cognition, and Aging: A Longitudinal study of middle and older-aged adults in Beirut, Lebanon (3LC study)
- Cognition in Whitehall II 'SuperAgers': An Analysis of Dementia Risk Factors
All 1,004 studies in Prevention and risk, newest first →
What the library holds on this subject
By review status
| Status | Studies |
|---|---|
| Peer-reviewed | 979 |
| Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed | 25 |
By strength of evidence
| Rated in our summary | Studies |
|---|---|
| low | 537 |
| moderate | 236 |
| high | 213 |
| null-result | 8 |
| early | 6 |
| not rated | 3 |
| preliminary | 1 |
Most frequent journals
| Journal | Studies |
|---|---|
| Neurology | 39 |
| Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association | 24 |
| JAMA | 22 |
| Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD | 22 |
| The Lancet. Neurology | 22 |
| Nutrients | 19 |
| JAMA neurology | 15 |
| Archives of neurology | 13 |
| JAMA Network Open | 13 |
| Journal of the American Geriatrics Society | 13 |
Studies by year published
| Year | Studies | Bar |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 52 | |
| 2025 | 209 | |
| 2024 | 30 | |
| 2023 | 36 | |
| 2022 | 34 | |
| 2021 | 31 | |
| 2020 | 46 | |
| 2019 | 52 | |
| 2018 | 49 | |
| 2017 | 58 | |
| 2016 | 38 | |
| 2015 | 54 | |
| 2014 | 32 | |
| 2013 | 38 | |
| 2012 | 20 | |
| 2011 | 21 | |
| 2010 | 30 | |
| 2009 | 30 | |
| 2008 | 14 | |
| 2007 | 17 | |
| 2006 | 18 | |
| 2005 | 15 | |
| 2004 | 14 | |
| 2003 | 11 | |
| 2002 | 18 | |
| 2001 | 5 | |
| 2000 | 7 | |
| 1999 | 6 | |
| 1998 | 3 | |
| 1997 | 5 | |
| 1996 | 3 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 3 | |
| 1984 | 1 |
Counts the 1,004 studies with a usable publication date. The library is a large sample of published work, not a complete index, so these counts describe the library, not the whole field.
Other subjects in the library
- Getting a diagnosis
- Biomarkers
- Clinical trials
- Caregiving
- How common it is
- Costs and economics
- Genetics
- Laboratory science
- Disease mechanisms
- Vascular contributions
- Prevention trials
- Clinical safety
- Health systems and care delivery
- End-of-life care
- Risk factors
- Digital health tools
- Treatments
- Disparities
- Mild cognitive impairment
- Risk genes beyond APOE
- Brain scans and imaging
- TREM2 and immune genetics
- Cognitive tests and assessment
- Lewy body dementia
- Down syndrome and Alzheimer's
- Long-term cohort studies
- Inflammation and the immune system
- Tau biomarkers
- Brain tissue and pathology
- Drug development
- Hippocampus size on brain scans