We love it when life’s little things add up to something BIG — like socking away a few bucks every week in a vacation-club account or flossing your pearly whites before you hit the hay each night. But here’s a doozy that didn’t get the front-page attention we think it deserved: Taking care of “little” health glitches now could slash your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease later by 40 percent. Turns out that sweating the small stuff — updating eyeglass prescriptions; clearing up skin and foot problems; getting chronic sinus infections, arthritis, leaky bladders and digestive disorders treated; even making sure dentures fit and hearing aids work — makes a huge difference. A major new Canadian study has found that each ignored problem boosts your risk for brain trouble by 3 percent. Having eight to 12 untreated little health issues boosts them by 30 percent to 40 percent. That’s large!

It’s also a shake-up, for three reasons. First, these “little things” aren’t what most of you, or us docs or even brain scientists, focus on in terms of protecting our gray matter. Second, brain benefits could be just the motivation needed if you’ve been dawdling about taking care of a small health nag. Third, this study points out a potent new way to keep what you’ve got upstairs in great working order.