EFN

According to a new study on aging, published in the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, there is a conclusive association between high cholesterol in middle age and Alzheimer’s 40 years later.

Those with hypertension were 60 per cent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia than those with normal blood pressure. Smokers are 70% more likely to develop dementia than those who never smoked. People with type 2 diabetes in middle age, another condition associated with poor diet and inactivity, were twice as likely as those without diabetes to later be admitted to hospital with dementia.

The report shows interesting links between middle-age cholesterol levels and the later onset of Alzheimer’s disease, however it has its limits. Since no family history is taken, there is no way of knowing if patients who later got Alzheimer’s were genetically predisposed to it.

In Americans there are over 100 million people with high cholesterol. In addition to terrible conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, dementia can also lead to strokes and infections to the brain, and a drastically decreased overall quality of life. Although there are no well-defined causes known for dementia at this point, experts suspect that a combination of genetic predispositions and lifestyle factors could work together to lead to the onset of the neurodegenerative condition.

Another recent study suggests that elderly people who will go on to develop dementia may delay their onset of rapid mental decline by taking part in mentally stimulating activities such as, reading, writing, playing games, playing music or even having conversations. However, the age at which people were diagnosed with dementia was not affected.