A new study suggests that certain lifestyle choices that we don’t think twice about may reduce our risk of later developing the most common form of dementia.
Taking anti-inflamatories like aspirin and ibuprofen, and drinking beverages like coffee and alcohol, were among the 10 different medical conditions, vitamins, medications, and lifestyle habits related to reducing the risk of developing, according to findings from researchers at Qingdao University in China.
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After analyzing more than 300 studies on Alzheimer’s and looking for indications as to which lifestyle habits and medical conditions contribute to the disease or reduce its risks, researchers found that people with some other diseases — cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease — also have a lessened risk of Alzheimer’s.
Additionally, the data suggested that the treatments for those other diseases may also prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s.
A high intake of folic acid showed the most reduced risk of developing the disease by 49%, and taking anti-inflammatories dropped the risk by 26%. A history of cancer in a person’s medical records reduces their risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 37%.
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The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry with the caveat that their work was an observational study that doesn’t draw firm conclusions, but rather, opens the door for closer medical examinations of the risk factors and reductions they found.
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