Fact No. 1: More than 40% of U.S. adults are obese, and almost 10% are severely obese.

Fact No. 2: Around 9 million Americans have dementia; more than 7 million of those are cases of Alzheimer's disease. And those numbers are expected to double by 2060.

It turns out these facts are intertwined.

A five-year study presented at the meeting of the Radiological Society of North America shows that blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s can increase 95% faster in people with obesity compared to people who are not obese. Chronic inflammation, changes in the gut biome, and metabolic dysregulation may play roles.

We know that there are a whole slew of modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease; obesity is a major one.

Others include untreated vision loss, high LDL cholesterol, hearing loss, high blood pressure, smoking, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, traumatic brain injury, air pollution, social isolation, and less education.

These can be modified if you embrace many of the 40 ways to reduce or eliminate your risk for dementia and Alzheimer's. Those protective actions include smart lifestyle choices such as playing speed-of-processing games, taking DHA omega-3, consuming olive oil and coffee, and getting your annual flu shot.

You can explore all your options and learn about the most recent developments in dementia prevention, from therapeutic plasma exchange to the use of GLP-1s for weight loss, in my book "The Great Age Reboot."