Over the past decade, the leading risk factor for Alzheimer's disease has changed.
Depression and smoking were the most common risk factors for Alzheimer's disease back in 2011.
When it comes to developing dementia, physical activity is more important than being overweight.
Alzheimer's disease is one of the leading causes of death in the US. No one knows how the disease begins or how to stop it.
Poor diet, high blood pressure, depression, smoking, and gum infections are some of the environmental factors that may contribute to the disease, according to research.
Patients and clinicians can manage these factors to reduce disease risk. The good news is that the impact of these risk factors is constant.
It's not clear why that is, but it may be due to a combination of changing health concerns and improved research methods.
Hearing loss was added to the list of risk factors for Alzheimer's in the most recent analysis from the US.
The rate of midlife obesity in the US has more than doubled. Over the past few years the prevalence of physical activity and smoking has gone down.
An updated risk assessment for Alzheimer's disease was conducted based on the US Behavioral Risk Factor Survey data from last year.
A third of all Alzheimer's cases were associated with one of the risk factors. The risk factors were self- reported and point toward a general trend.
In the nationwide analysis midlife Obesity was the most common risk factor.
According to the author of the recent estimate, the change in midlife ObesityPrevalence appeared to be the largest compared with other factors evaluated in this study, which potentially propelled midlife Obesity to become the most prominent risk factor associated withAlzheimer disease and related dementias nearly a decade later.
This isn't the first time midlife weight gain has been linked to Alzheimer's.
Excess body weight may make neural tissue more vulnerable to brain damage. There are parts of the brain that are associated with memories.
It doesn't mean midlife obese is a cause of Alzheimer's, but it does suggest that maintaining a healthy weight can reduce the risk of the disease.
Studies show that when weight is lost later in life, the brain's cortex doesn't shrink as much as it would in obese people.
There are many theories as to why that is. Some researchers think that obese people can affect the brain's blood circulation.
Other researchers think that chronic inflammation in the brain can be caused by obese people.
Someday scientists will be able to help doctors with better treatment options for Alzheimer's by figuring out who is most susceptible to the disease.
Researchers noticed some differences in the data when they split up the survey participants by sex, race, and ethnicity.
Men are more likely to have cases of Alzheimer's disease that are linked to at least one of the eight risk factors. Older Black people, American Indian and Alaska Native people, and Hispanic people were more likely to have them.
The findings suggest that some groups of people are more at risk of developing Alzheimer's than others, possibly because of factors that limit access to healthcare, physical exercise, or healthy food.
It seems that culture plays a big role. The US is one of the few countries where midlife overweight is a leading risk factor for Alzheimer's.
Low education and physical activity are risk factors in China and Europe. Obesity is not ranked in the top 3.
The authors of the US analysis argue that policymakers and clinicians should increase their efforts to prevent Alzheimer's disease by focusing on physical activity and low education among high-risk groups.
There may be a need for a different strategy in other places.
Alzheimer's is not a simple disease and the way that we tackle it will require a lot of complexity.
There was a study published.
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