title: Primary prevention of Alzheimer's disease: is it an attainable goal?
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, and the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease in the elderly. The prevalence of AD is predicted to rise as life expectancy grows across populations. The exact cause of this devastating disease is still unknown; however, it is an aging-related multi-factorial disorder, and growing evidence supports the contribution of modifiable environmental factors to unmodifiable factors such as gene and ageing itself. The recent advancement of methodologies and techniques for early diagnosis of AD facilitates the investigation of strategies to reduce the risk for AD progression in the earliest stages of the disease. Pharmacological attempts at curing, halting or modifying it have, by and large, been unsuccessful, and no breakthrough is seen in the near future. However, a lot of elements that seem to contribute to the disease such as risk factors have been identified, mainly from epidemiological and basic research studies. Many of these are amenable to lifestyle modification. Therefore, prevention in the preclinical stage is likely the most effective way to decrease the incidence of this age-associated dreadful neurodegenerative condition, and its associated burden for individuals and society. We provide an overview of modifiable risk factors for AD along with the supporting evidence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jee-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Center for Geriatric Neuroscience Research, Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seol-Heui
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3608-2514
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D026441:Mind-Body Therapies; D009043:Motor Activity; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Alzheimer's Disease; Lifestyle Modification; Nutrition; Primary Prevention