Researchers Claim One in Three Alzheimer’s Cases Is Preventable

One in three cases of Alzheimer’s disease worldwide is preventable, according to research from the University of Cambridge. The main risk factors for the disease are a lack of exercise, smoking, depression, and poor education, it says. Previous research from 2011 put the estimate at one in two cases, but this new study takes into account overlapping risk factors. Alzheimer’s Research UK said age was still the biggest risk factor. Writing in The Lancet Neurology, the Cambridge team analyzed population-based data to work out the main seven risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. They worked out that a third of Alzheimer’s cases could be linked to lifestyle factors that could be modified, such as lack of exercise and smoking. The researchers then looked at how reducing these factors could affect the number of future Alzheimer’s cases. They found that by reducing each risk factor by 10 percent, nearly nine million cases of the disease could be prevented by 2050.

Source/more: BBC
Read the full article in the Lancet.