Risk Factors and Prevention in Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

Abstract

Along with global aging, the number of people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will dramatically increase with burdensome consequences at both individual and societal levels. Since so far no effective curative drugs have been found, the identification of modifiable factors to reduce the risk of cognitive decline remains a public health priority. Up to one-third of AD cases worldwide can be attributable to the presence of seven potentially modifiable risk factors: physical inactivity, smoking, midlife hypertension and obesity, DM, depression, and low level of education. Therefore, it might be possible to substantially reduce AD occurrence through public health interventions promoting activities enhancing cognitive reserve and healthy lifestyles. In this chapter, we summarize the major findings concerning risk and protective factors for dementia and AD, based on current epidemiological evidence from observational and interventional studies. We also discuss the impact of ongoing interventional studies testing the effect of preventive measures for dementia and AD.