On Increasing Your Chances of Avoiding Alzheimer's
In many ways, Alzheimer's disease looks a lot like type 2 diabetes - it can be argued that there are some biochemical similarities in the underlying mechanisms, Alzheimer's appears to be a lifestyle disease to some degree, and the two conditions have many of the same risk factors, such as obesity and being sedentary. So: "Over half of all Alzheimer's disease cases could potentially be prevented through lifestyle changes and treatment or prevention of chronic medical conditions. ... Analyzing data from studies around the world involving hundreds of thousands of participants, [researchers] concluded that worldwide, the biggest modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease are, in descending order of magnitude, low education, smoking, physical inactivity, depression, mid-life hypertension, diabetes and mid-life obesity. ... In the United States, [researchers] found that the biggest modifiable risk factors are physical inactivity, depression, smoking, mid-life hypertension, mid-life obesity, low education and diabetes. ... What's exciting is that this suggests that some very simple lifestyle changes, such as increasing physical activity and quitting smoking, could have a tremendous impact on preventing Alzheimer's and other dementias in the United States and worldwide." Many lines of research demonstrate the importance of exercise for health in later life.
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/uoc--oho071811.php