Are you afraid of Alzheimer's disease?

Change your lifestyle, and genes have almost nothing to do with it!

Alzheimer's disease, which causes progressive memory impairment and loss of intellectual abilities and social skills, is the most common cause of dementia, which currently affects about 5.4 million Americans. To date, there is no effective method of treating this disease, but there are drugs that can slow its progression.

Unfortunately, despite the identified ability to manage risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, the prevalence of the main of these factors currently continues to grow.

Many people who have relatives with Alzheimer's disease are worried about the question: maybe I'm next? In many ways, this is facilitated by the regular appearance in the media of horror stories that regular scientists have discovered another "Alzheimer's gene". At the same time, most often in the retellings of articles from scientific journals, data on what percentage of this gene increases the likelihood of disease disappear. At the same time, an increasing amount of scientific data indicates that the functional state of the aging brain is much more determined by lifestyle, especially diet and the presence or absence of obesity, than by genes.

According to Professor Stuart Lipton from the Sanford-Burnham Research Institute, the opinion that if a person in the family has a "gene predisposition to Alzheimer's disease", he will also necessarily get sick is nothing more than a myth. In fact, such a causal relationship is detected only in 1% of cases of the disease.

Some people are indeed carriers of genes, including APOE-4, which increase the predisposition to Alzheimer's disease, but the probability of activation of these genes largely depends on a person's lifestyle.

Obesity is directly associated with the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, as it is a risk factor for diabetes, and diabetes, in turn, increases the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease by 2-3 times. It is believed that a violation of the body's ability to produce or use insulin, which is one of the manifestations of diabetes, stimulates the process of neurodegeneration (literally translated from Latin – brain destruction). Therefore, to prevent an increase in the concentration of insulin in the blood, experts recommend reducing the consumption of carbohydrates to a minimum.

The results of a study conducted by scientists at the University of Cincinnati and published in 2010 in the journal Neurobiology of Aging in the article Krikorian et al. Dietary ketosis enhances memory in mild cognitive impairment, indicate that limiting carbohydrate intake improves the condition of patients with mild cognitive impairment. During the study, 23 participants were divided into 2 groups. For six weeks, one group consumed regular food, 50% of the caloric content of which was provided by carbohydrates, while the second group ate foods with a reduced carbohydrate content that provided less than 10% of the caloric content of the diet.

At the end of the experimental period, the state of cognitive function of the participants of the first group practically did not change, while significant improvements were observed in the second group.

Brain health experts also recommend sticking to a diet rich in protein and brightly colored fruits and vegetables. The latter contain a large number of polyphenols, known for their ability to improve brain function.

Reducing stress is also an important factor in optimizing brain function. Stress increases the content of the hormone cortisol in the blood, which leads to an increase in blood glucose levels and, accordingly, stimulates the synthesis of insulin.

A recent work by researchers at Yale University, the results of which are published in the latest issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry in an article by Emily B. Ansel et al. Cumulative Adversity and Smaller Gray Matter Volume in Medial Prefrontal, Anterior Cingulate, and Insula Regions, showed that stressful situations literally "hit the brain".

As part of this study, 103 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 48 years filled out questionnaires, the purpose of which was to assess the amount of stress suffered by participants during their lifetime. After that, all participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Analysis of the results showed that participants who had recently experienced unpleasant events, such as dismissal from work, loss of a home or a lover, were characterized by significantly less gray matter in the prefrontal cortex.

According to the head of the study, Professor Rajita Sinha (Rajita Sinha), apparently, the combined impact of stressful factors can lead to impaired cognitive function and, possibly, to memory loss. However, the brain is a dynamic plastic structure and, in the case of a correct attitude to stress, the lost nerve connections are restored. The right attitude implies maintaining blood glucose levels at a stable level, playing sports, creating positive relationships with others and participating in uplifting activities.

Obviously, the second of the main risk factors for developing Alzheimer's disease is aging. To date, the chance of developing this disease by the age of 85 is 50%. By the 100th anniversary, this figure increases to 75%. However, experts are confident that even people with a genetic predisposition can significantly reduce the likelihood of developing the disease by making lifestyle changes in middle age.

A few more approaches that protect against Alzheimer's disease:

• The daily consumption of coffee or a small amount of wine has a certain preventive effect. Long-term global studies have shown that drinking five cups of coffee a day reduces the likelihood of developing diabetes by 50%, and the protective effect increases in proportion to the increase in the amount of coffee consumed.
• Any habits and daily activities that contribute to lowering blood cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation also contribute to maintaining brain health. In other words: what's good for the heart is good for the brain.
• Prolonged use of statins to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, as well as the use of both medicinal and non-medicinal methods of lowering blood pressure also has a certain positive effect.
• Major epidemiological studies have shown that taking anti-inflammatory drugs, including nonsteroidal drugs used to treat arthritis, also reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
• Body and mind training also has a protective effect. The more information the human brain absorbs, the more synapses are formed in it. Brain degeneration implies the destruction of synapses, therefore, the more of them, the more difficult it is for the disease to destroy the brain. Apparently, this explains the fact that people with a good education are less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
• Socializing with friends and actively participating in social events also helps to maintain brain health.

Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on Medical Xpress materials:
Fear dementia? Your diet, weight more important than genes, experts say.

30.01.2012