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We’re not as helpless against dementia as we think

A scan of a brain with Alzheimer’s. | BSIP/UIG via Getty Images I turned 48 this week, which meant it was time for my annual physical. After the usual battery of questions from my doctor — How much did I drink? Was I exercising? How was I sleeping? — it was my turn to ask a question. I had one prepared: Should I get the shingles vaccine? Key takeaways Dementia cases will keep climbing as the population ages — a projected million new US cases annually by 2060 — but your odds of getting it at any given age have been falling for decades. An 80-year-old today is meaningfully less lik...