Alzheimer's: Lifestyle can balance risk genes
Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.
More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.A healthy lifestyle can protect against Alzheimer's. But does this also apply to people whose genetic makeup makes them more susceptible to dementia? British researchers have examined this and found that living healthy pays off - even if you have unfavorable genes.
"Our results are exciting because they show for the first time that we can actively do something to balance our genetic risk factors," says study author Dr. Elzbieta Kuma from the University of Exeter. For her research, she used a British organic database: Together with colleagues, Kuma evaluated the data of almost 200,000 people who were 60 years or older. The data also included genetic information about the participants.
Risk classification according to lifestyle
Based on the previously known gene variants that increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, the scientists divided the participants into groups with a low, medium and high risk of dementia. The researchers also had information from the participants about their lifestyle. The scientists rated lifestyle factors such as no smoking, a balanced diet, regular physical activity and low alcohol consumption as healthy.
Despite bad genes, 30 percent lower risk of dementia
Over the next eight years, 1,769 study participants developed dementia. People who had previously stated that they followed a healthy lifestyle were significantly less likely to fall ill. As expected, the combination of an unhealthy lifestyle and risk genes turned out to be particularly treacherous: Affected people had a three times higher risk of dementia than participants with a healthy lifestyle and no risk genes. The risk of dementia was also increased in people with risk genes who lived healthy, but by 30 percent less than with the combination of risk genes plus an unhealthy lifestyle.
Alzheimer's doesn't have to be fate
"This study delivers a very important message," says study director Dr. David Llewellyn. "It weakens a fatalistic view of dementia. Some people believe that because of their genes they will inevitably develop Alzheimer's. ”However, it has now been shown that a healthy lifestyle can substantially reduce the personal risk of dementia, even if the disposition is unfavorable.
No cure in sight yet
According to the German Alzheimer's Society, around 1.7 million people currently live with dementia in Germany. Most of them have Alzheimer's. The causes of the disease have not yet been clarified, and there is still no therapy that can stop or even cure the disease. Lifestyle factors that can delay or prevent the onset of the disease are therefore all the more important.
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