Dementia Risk Factors
When it comes to preventing physical illnesses - like heart disease or cancer - it's common knowledge that how you live plays a big role in how high your risk is. But your lifestyle is good for more than just predicting future bodily ills. It can also play a big role in predicting mental ones too, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
In fact, lifestyle factors can predict your risk of dementia and Alzheimer's as early as middle age, according to a recent study from Sweden, in which researchers pinpointed six main risk factors for dementia.
The list included a lot of the same risk factors for other problems like heart disease and stroke, including obesity and too little exercise, along with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and even poor education. (Study after study has shown that an exercised and well-trained brain is an excellent defense against dementia.)
Scientists have estimated that at least 12 million people out there suffer from Alzheimer's. Meanwhile, as the Baby Boomer generation gets older, they think that number is only going to rise. And since there is no cure for dementia or Alzheimer's, prevention is even more important.
During the Swedish study (which lasted 20 years), researchers analyzed information about 1,409 people following an assessment of their dementia risk during midlife (about 50 years old). Twenty years later they went back to see who had developed dementia and who'd stayed free of the disease.
In the end, four percent of the participants developed dementia. Those also turned out to be the ones with the greatest numbers of risk factors when the study started.
For more information about preventing dementia and Alzheimer's disease, go back and read the May issue of my newsletter. If you're a subscriber you can download it online for free online.
