Seven crucial risk factors for Alzheimer's disease
Wednesday July 20th, 2011
Up to half of Alzheimer's disease cases could be prevented by acting on seven risk factors, experts said today.
They
are: quitting smoking, increasing physical activity, enhancing mental
activity, controlling blood pressure and diabetes, and managing obesity
and depression.
Dr Deborah Barnes of the University of California, San Francisco, USA, believes that a 25 per cent reduction in all seven risk factors could prevent up to three million cases globally.
"Given the current absence of disease-modifying treatments, as well as increasing awareness that symptoms develop over many years or even decades, there has been growing interest in identification of effective strategies for prevention of Alzheimer's disease," she says.
Her team reviewed the evidence from recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses on factors predisposing to Alzheimer's disease.
"Observational studies have identified a wide range of potentially modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and dementia", she explains.
Her results indicate that these seven risk factors could contribute to 17.2 million cases worldwide, and that a ten per cent reduction in all seven factors could reduce the number of cases by 1.1 to three million around the world.
The review is published in The Lancet Neurology. Dr Barnes added: "What really mattered was how common the risk factors were in the population.
"In the USA, about a third of the population is sedentary, so a large number of Alzheimer's cases are potentially attributable to physical inactivity. Worldwide, low education was more important because so many people throughout the world are illiterate or are not educated beyond elementary school.
"Smoking also contributed to a large percentage of cases because it is unfortunately still really common."
Tags: Brain & Neurology | Diet & Food | Fitness | Mental Health | North America
Printer friendly page