A predisposition to Alzheimer’s cannot be changed, but a number of influencing factors are now known that can be actively improved. Most of them concern lifestyle. According to a study from the USA, around a third of cases can be attributed to just three such risk factors. This underlines how important a healthy lifestyle is to prevent dementia.
Eight variable factors increase the risk of dementia: physical inactivity, smoking, depression, low educational attainment, diabetes mellitus, middle-aged obesity, middle-aged hypertension, and hearing loss. A survey of nearly 400,000 people in the United States shows that obesity (17.7%), lack of exercise (11.8%) and low educational attainment (11.7%) are responsible for more than a third of dementia cases. If these three factors were reduced by 25 percent, around a fifth of dementia cases could be avoided, the researchers write in the journal “Journal of Alzheimer’s disease”.
Experts like Prof. Dr. Hans-Christoph Diener, spokesman for the German Society for Neurology, sees great potential for preventive measures here: “We know what harmful effects an unhealthy lifestyle has on the cardiovascular system and the risk of cancer – but that it also affects the health of our affecting the brain so dramatically is not yet generally known, even in Germany.”
There are currently 1.6 million people living with dementia in Germany. Due to demographic change, it is assumed that this number will increase significantly, which will pose major challenges for the healthcare system and society.