Lifestyle factors may be key to preventing Alzheimer’s: study

By Meredith Engel, Online Health Reporter for NYDailyNews.com.

"Alzheimer's may be preventable in those who live a healthy lifestyle.

That's according to new research that pinpointed nine risk factors for the degenerative memory disease.

Obesity, low education, type 2 diabetes, narrowing of the carotid artery in the neck, depression, high blood pressure, high levels of a particular amino acid and frailty were linked to two-thirds of global Alzheimer’s cases.

The smoking and diabetes connections were seen specifically in Asian populations.

The authors noted that the data showed a correlation, not causation.

But still, "the current evidence from our study showed that individuals would benefit from [addressing] the related potentially modifiable risk factors," said study lead author Dr. Jin-Tai Yu, an associate specialist in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, and senior editor of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

The researchers looked at 323 studies conducted between 1968 and 2014. They published their study in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

An estimated 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer's."