A new study reports that avoiding three common health risks during middle age is associated with substantially longer dementia-free life. Researchers led by NYU Langone Health analyzed a cohort of more than 12,000 people who did not have dementia at baseline (around age 55 in reports) and followed them to assess dementia outcomes. The three factors are having normal blood pressure, having no diabetes (notably type 2 diabetes in some coverage), and not smoking. Participants who had none of these risks from roughly age 45–48 to 65–68 were reported to live, on average, nearly 13 additional years without developing dementia compared with people who had all or some of the risk factors. Multiple outlets describe the findings as evidence that addressing cardiovascular and metabolic risk in midlife may help delay cognitive decline. Coverage also notes that the analysis compares groups based on their health status over the period rather than single measurements at one point in time. The study’s results are presented as associations and do not by themselves establish cause.