What we can do to protect people from dementia

Like many diseases, it does not strike fairly, writes Michael Marmot. But there are certain things we can address to help people who are more at risk deal with it far more easily, or even hold it off entirely

A new report from Alzheimer’s Research UK shows that dementia risk rises with increasing deprivation (Getty/iStock)

Dementia. The shadow that looms over all of us. But, like so much else to do with health, it casts its shadow unevenly.

Many of us concerned with health inequalities have had a focus on children. A consistent theme of our reports at the UCL Institute of Health Equity is that we must ensure equity from the start, and give every child the best start in life. Hence the alarm when the Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently reported that 1 million children in the UK are living in destitution – a nearly threefold increase between 2017 and 2022.

But what about the 2.8 million people in destitution who are not children? Should we not also care about them? Is it too late to do anything about health and health inequalities after age five, particularly at older ages?