Top 19 Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s
There’s a reason why Alzheimer’s disease has skyrocketed in the past few decades.
It has nothing to do with whether your mother or grandmother had it—and everything to do with the poor lifestyle choices brought on by modern living.
But if you’re wondering exactly what you should be doing—or not doing—to keep dementia away, you can stop wondering.
Scientists have combed through hundreds of studies to identify the top risk factors for Alzheimer’s.
The result is a comprehensive list of the top 19 risk factors for the disease—many of which you have complete control over.
In a massive meta-analysis, researchers looked at data from 153 randomized clinical trials on Alzheimer’s disease, plus 243 observational prospective studies to identify the most common risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.
Their results gave them “Level A” risk factors, which include the top 10 strongest links to the development of Alzheimer’s, and “Level B” risk factors, which include nine additional items.
Level A risk factors:
- Diabetes
- High homocysteine levels
- Stress
- Poor BMI
- High blood pressure in midlife
- Less cognitive activity
- Reduced education
- Head trauma
- Low blood pressure
- Depression
As you can see, you don’t have control over all items on this list—which makes it even more critical to get a handle on the ones that you do.
Level B risk factors:
- Midlife obesity
- Late-life weight loss
- Smoking
- AFib
- Vitamin C levels
- Physical activity levels
- Frailty
- Cerebrovascular disease
While these factors weren’t as strong as the Level A factors, they still made the cut—which means that getting a handle on them can still help lower your risk.
Look, there’s no magic bullet when it comes to fending off a disease like dementia. Keeping your wits about you LATER means you have to use our brain NOW—while you still can—to make the best decisions for your health.
By my calculations, you have control over at least 15 of the 19 factors.
Your health is in your hands.
