Michigan’s aging brains need more protection, poll shows

• 80% for preventing head injury  

• 71% for managing stress, not smoking and treating depression  

• 70% for controlling blood pressure  

• 58% for limiting alcohol 

• 57% for maintaining a healthy weight  

• 54% for managing cholesterol 

• 53% for addressing hearing loss 

The survey also asked Michiganders 50 and over how often they do activities known to help preserve brain function. The percentage who reported they do these activities daily or on most days of the week:  

• Get seven or more hours of sleep: 54%  

• Do mentally stimulating activities: 48%  

• Eat a healthy balanced diet: 40%  

• Get some form of daily physical activity, including walking or stretching: 36%  

Each of these factors were rated as very important to brain health by 61% to 68% of all respondents.

Roberts recently presented the findings at a summit of the Michigan Dementia Coalition, a statewide organization that brings together academic, government, nonprofit, caregiver and patient representatives.

Roberts is the Outreach, Recruitment & Engagement Core Lead at the Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association’s Michigan chapter, 11% of people over 65 in Michigan have Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.

Their family and friends provide more than 680 million hours of unpaid care for them every year.

The role of health care professionals

Preventing dementia, or delaying it as long as possible, through lifestyle changes in midlife and earlier, is crucial, says poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, M.D., M.S., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the U-M Medical School and a primary care physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

“Health care providers across our state, and our nation, could do much more to help our patients understand the link between the lifestyle choices they make today and their future brain health,” he said.

“Our state’s adult population has high rates of risk factors for dementia, and we need to work together to address them at every age.”

Most older Michiganders said they would want to learn more about brain health from their health care provider.

But these conversations aren’t common: just 23% had discussed the topic with their provider.

Among Michiganders age 65 and over, 30% have had a cognitive screening test in the past year, which can help identify early stages of dementia.

While universal cognitive screening for all people over age 65 has not been recommended by all national organizations, simple cognitive testing can be done as part of a regular checkup, especially if someone is concerned about their memory or thinking ability, or a loved one has expressed concern.

New prescription medications designed to slow decline in the early stages of cognitive impairment have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in recent years.

So have blood tests for biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (e.g., amyloid, tau) that can help aid in diagnosis and early detection.

However, there is no cure for dementia at any stage, making prevention crucial.

The Michigan Poll on Healthy Aging includes data from 1,293 Michigan adults age 50 to 93 from the  NORC  AmeriSpeak panel and supplemental non-probability panel participants, who were compared to 2,808 non-Michigan adults age 50 to 98. The survey was administered online and via phone in January 2026.

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