Can Alzheimer’s Disease Be Prevented?

There is no sure way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. However, taking steps to limit your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes may help lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease as well. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, these lifestyle decisions can help ward off diabetes, lower blood pressure and improve heart health and, by extension, promote brain health. .

• Maintain a normal weight. Overweight individuals are seven times as likely to develop diabetes. If you are obese, your risk of diabetes is 20 to 40 times greater than someone who maintains a healthy weight. Obesity also increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
• Exercise. Two large studies — the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study — indicate that walking briskly for 30 minutes a day reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 30%. The Black Women’s Health Study showed similar results from walking briskly for five hours per week. Additionally, according to the American Heart Association, regular aerobic exercise — at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five times per week — also improves cardiovascular health.
• Turn off the TV. Obviously, the more time you spend sitting in front of the TV, the less time you spend engaged in physical activity. This may be why research shows that for every two hours of TV a person watches, their risk of developing diabetes increases 20%, and their risk of cardiovascular disease increases by 15%. 
• Stop smoking. Smoking increases your risk of cognitive decline, but quitting appears to help restore brain function to the level of people who have never smoked. 
• Eat a healthier diet. In general, this means doing the following:
  • Eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables
  • Swapping sugary drinks for water or unsweetened coffee or tea
  • Eating polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in vegetable oils, olive oil, nuts and seeds, and avoiding trans fats, which often lurk in margarine, baked goods and fast food. [Hint: anything that contains “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” contains trans fat.]

• Eating “fatty fish” such as salmon, herring, sardines, mackerel, lake trout and albacore tuna. The omega-3 fatty acids in these fish will not decrease the risk of diabetes, but they can protect against heart disease.  

Additionally, the CDC recommends that older adults maintain social connections and stay mentally active to slow cognitive decline and decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Protecting your brain from trauma is important as well. Some steps that can decrease the risk of head injuries include the following: 

• Wear a helmet if you ride a bike or participate in contact sports
• Wear your seatbelt whenever you’re in an automobile
• Protect against falls: Wear sensible shoes and remove clutter, scatter rugs and other items that could cause you to slip and fall in your home. 

Finally, uncorrected hearing and/or vision loss are closely associated with dementia risk. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, people with age-related vision loss (for example, due to cataracts) were 50% more likely to develop dementia. However, those who had cataracts removed were 30% less likely to go on to develop dementia than those who did not. Diabetic retinopathy — vision loss caused by consistently elevated blood sugar — is also a recognized risk factor for developing dementia. 

 Similarly, even mild uncorrected hearing loss can double an individual’s risk of developing dementia, while severe uncorrected hearing loss can increase the risk by five times. The risk increases the longer hearing loss continues. 

In order to mitigate these risks, it is important to:

• Have your hearing and vision checked annually
• Wear hearing aids if they have been prescribed
• Wear glasses or contact lenses as needed
• Speak with your provider about surgery if you have developed cataracts
• If you are diabetic, keep blood sugar at recommended levels to lower the risk of diabetic retinopathy

Sources

“Simple Steps to Preventing Diabetes”. The Nutrition Source. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/disease-prevention/diabetes-prevention/preventing-diabetes-full-story/ 

“Impact of Smoking on Cognitive Decline in Early Old Age”. JAMA Psychiatry. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1151016 

“Hearing loss and the risk of dementia”. Alzheimer’s Society. https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/managing-the-risk-of-dementia/reduce-your-risk-of-dementia/hearing-loss 

“Vision loss and the risk of dementia”. Alzheimer’s Society. https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/managing-the-risk-of-dementia/reduce-your-risk-of-dementia/vision-loss-and-risk 

“Diabetic retinopathy”. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetic-retinopathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20371611