Hundreds of thousands of Australians are about to receive a confronting letter warning them to start protecting their brains from dementia.
The Federal Government is sending letters to 340,000 Australians who turned 50 in the past year, urging them to take action now to reduce their risk of developing the disease.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: National campaign aiming to reduce dementia risk
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The unprecedented national push comes as experts warn almost half of dementia cases could potentially be prevented or delayed.
“This is the first time the Australian government has had proactive and targeted messaging to younger people to support them to invest in their brain health into the future,” Aged Care and Seniors Minister Sam Rae told 7NEWS.
The letter starts: “Support your health and reduce your dementia risk.”
It warns dementia can affect memory, thinking and mood, while telling Australians there are practical steps they can take to protect themselves.
Those steps include staying active, eating a balanced diet, checking hearing and vision, looking after heart health, managing diabetes, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol and remaining socially and mentally active.
Recipients can also scan a QR code to calculate a personalised dementia risk score.
“Fifty might seem young to start thinking about your brain health and avoiding dementia, but it’s actually the perfect time to think about your long-term health and to take the steps that can avoid dementia into the future,” Rae said.
The issue has already been thrust into the spotlight by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.
The Hollywood star discovered while filming his National Geographic series Limitless that he carries a gene which increases his risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
He has since explored brain health further, including in a documentary with his father Craig, who has Alzheimer’s.
Leading cause of death
The new campaign was co-designed with some of Australia’s leading dementia experts, including 2026 Senior Australian of the Year Professor Henry Brodaty AO.
He told 7NEWS that Australians have successfully changed their behaviour to reduce skin cancer and heart disease and brain health must now become the next major public health battle.
“Forty-five per cent of the risk of dementia is caused by preventable factors that we can modify, we can do something about,” Professor Brodaty told 7NEWS.
“If we could eliminate those 14 risk factors, we would eliminate half of dementia.”
Almost half a million Australians are already living with dementia and it’s now the country’s leading cause of death after overtaking ischaemic heart disease in 2024.
By 2065, the number is projected to reach 1.1 million.
But Professor Brodaty believes that trajectory can be changed.
“For every year we delay the onset there’s 10 per cent fewer cases…If we could delay it till after we die, that would be perfect,” he said.
He wants the letters to be the first step in a much bigger prevention effort.
Rae said he will see how successful the mail campaign is this year, before taking further action.
“These public health campaigns are a critical way to educate people and to support people to take the relatively modest lifestyle changes that they can take to avoid dementia in the future,” he said.
“I absolutely want to see us turn around the growth in people being diagnosed with dementia.”
Peter’s journey
Retired police officer Peter Duclos was just 65 when he received his diagnosis of early-onset dementia in 2024.
Initially, he waved away his symptoms as nothing too serious.
But a feeling that something wasn’t right took him to his GP, and then for an MRI and further testing.
While his diagnosis was personally devastating, he is determined not to let the disease define him.
He wants to help others be alert to the warning signs, and take what steps they can to avoid becoming another victim.
“You’re not going to achieve anything if you’re worried about it and you don’t do something about it,” he said.
It’s never too late.”
