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American researchers have found that through an active and social life, you can reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The work was published May 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Stress, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, low level of education, arterial hypertension, diabetes… The risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease are many and varied. Fortunately, many are editable. At least that’s what a new study, published in the American medical journal JAMA, says by American researchers from the University of California.
Alzheimer’s: 1 in 3 cases is associated with modifiable factors
What if changing your lifestyle could prevent Alzheimer’s? According to American scientists, it is possible: certain known risk factors – such as physical inactivity, stress and smoking – could be largely modified.
To arrive at this observation, the lifestyles of 378,615 adults over the age of 18 were analyzed for almost a year – from January 2018 to December 2018. Their behavioral and other risk factors (smoking, depression, low level of education, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, hearing loss, etc. were subject to special monitoring.
The most important modifiable risk factors were obesity, low level of education and physical inactivity.
Results ? If the habits of the volunteers changed, the risks of having Alzheimer’s disease decreased.
“Alzheimer’s risk reduction strategies may be more effective if they target high-risk groups and take into account current risk factor profiles”say the researchers.
To date, it is estimated that 1.2 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease in France.
Alzheimer’s disease manifests itself in disorders of memory, orientation in time and space as well as cognitive functions.
This progressive and irreversible damage to the brain leads to an inexorable loss of nerve cells. However, it is only after months or even years that the first signs of the disease appear. It then evolves for about ten years on average.
To prevent it, it is essential to adopt good hygiene and dietary habits: eat a varied and balanced diet, do not smoke, avoid alcohol and have regular physical activity. Exercising (jogging, gardening, dancing…), in addition to helping to maintain a stable weight, helps stimulate brain activity by increasing the volume of gray matter (memory, cognitive functions. ..).
But it is possible to follow some “protective” tricks. Indeed, various studies seem to show that:
- Social relationships are important. Having friends, going out, being interested and staying curious tends to protect the brain.
- The appearance of these first symptoms could be delayed in people stimulating their brain with intellectual activity (reading, scrabble, sudoku, crosswords, chess, etc.). Provided they are not repeated mechanically.