Improved lifestyles could potentially prevent a third of Alzheimer’s cases

A third of Alzheimer’s cases are potentially preventable if people improve their lifestyles, according to a new study.

Factors including a lack of exercise, smoking and a lack of education can all contribute to the disease, and reducing the risk from these could prevent some nine million cases by 2050, the research published in The Lancet Neurology suggests.

The latest study, led by Professor Carol Brayne from the Cambridge Institute of Public Health at the University of Cambridge and funded by the National Institute for Health Research, lowers the estimate from previous research in 2011 which had suggested as many as one in two cases are preventable.