Healthy habits and Alzheimer's disease

Increasing research in the field of dementia and Alzheimer's disease report that a shift towards healthy lifestyle choices can decrease the risk of these diseases, and approximately 40% of dementia cases across the world could theoretically be prevented if the global population makes significant changes towards a healthier lifestyle.

In a recent study published in the journal JAMA Neurology, scientists from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, United States, investigated whether brain pathology related to dementia, such as cerebrovascular pathology, phosphorylated tau fibril tangles, and β-amyloid accumulation, modify the association between healthy lifestyle choices and cognition during the later years in life.

The results suggested that independent of brain pathologies related to Alzheimer's disease or dementia, healthy lifestyles were associated with lower cognitive decline proximate to death.

Overall, the findings indicated that healthy lifestyle factors could contribute significantly to lowering age-associated cognitive decline in older adults, independent of neuropathologies related to dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Source: JAMA Neurology