Prevention of Alzheimer's disease: The role of the Mediterranean diet

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease rates have been increasing exponentially and are now considered a 21st century epidemic. It contributes substantially to the morbidity and mortality of older adults. Thus, Alzheimer's disease is a growing major public health concern with a profuse socioeconomic impact. In addition, the existing pharmacological agents only offer modest symptomatic relief and can neither address the progressive neurodegeneration nor cure the disease. Therefore, finding effective preventive and therapeutic measures that delay the onset or reverse the course of the disease is crucial. Several studies have shown that lifestyle factors may play a central role in reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or, at least, in delaying its clinical symptoms. Among these disease-modifying factors, healthy nutrition has drawn much attention given that it might strongly influence the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. Such healthy dietary pattern is the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet may play a protective role against age-related changes in cognitive function, pre-dementia syndromes, and dementia. Therefore, it may constitute an effective preventive strategy for Alzheimer's disease, with low costs and few side effects. Importantly, these promising preventive measures may translate into strong epidemiological health outcomes, which might lead to a significant progress in public health. An online search was conducted in PubMed in order to revise the literature concerning the association between diet and dementia, specifically, if a higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern is related to lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and to understand the possible mechanisms that may explain such association.