Reducing the Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s

Protective factors:

1. Length of childhood education (too late for most of you).

2. Avoiding severe weight loss in late life.

3. Maintaining cognitive activities.

4. Mid-life and late-life exercising.

5. Treatment with combination of folic acid and vitamins B-6 and B-12 in late life (to reduce elevated homocysteine).

Negative prognostic factors:

1. Diabetes.

2. Hypertension in mid-life.

3. Obesity in mid-life.

4. Orthostatic hypotension (BP falls with standing).

5. Head trauma

6. Stress and depression

7. Coronary artery bypass surgery.

Uncertain negative factors:

1. Obstructive sleep apnea.

2. Prior infection with herpesvirus 1 and 2 or varicella-zoster virus (anti-viral therapies are unproven so far).

See the chapter in Dementia, Continuum Journal, June 2022.

For more information, please visit our center’s website or call us at (714) 738–0800