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Stockholm in July

Since we started our “Let us Know” feature on the HSI web site a few weeks ago we’ve received an enormous response, with a large number of you telling us that you want to learn more about Alzheimer’s disease (AD). And I’m not surprised – 12 million people worldwide are afflicted by this debilitating disease. When you take into consideration how their family members and friends are affected, it’s easy to imagine a geometric web of many millions of people whose lives are changed by the relentless onset of Alzheimer’s.

This week, several thousand researchers and health care providers are gathering for the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders in Stockholm, Sweden. And they’re all thinking about the same things: prevention, treatment, and the most elusive concept of all: a cure.Keeping the numbers down

The outlook for the near future of Alzheimer’s contains a sobering prediction: the Alzheimer’s Association reports that if the incidence of the disease continues to grow at its current rate, more than 22 million people will suffer from AD by the year 2025.

That is, of course, IF present trends continue. Because 4,000 scientists attending the Stockholm conference this week have devoted their careers to the hopes that their efforts will reverse that upward trend. With that goal in mind I’ve searched through the abstracts of the six-day conference, looking specifically for studies that address prevention, and I’ve come up with a few that offer good practical advice and even some good news (especially for you java hounds out there).

Genetic destiny?

I’ll start with a promising study from the University of Kuopio, in Kuopio, Finland, that examined almost 1500 subjects over 21 years. The Kuopio researchers compared three suspected Alzheimer’s risk factors: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and the presence of a gene called apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE) which is considered the gene that carries the highest risk factor for AD.

They found that the risk of Alzheimer’s was greater with the two treatable factors (high cholesterol and BP) than with the genetic factor. Furthermore, their study shows that a case of high blood pressure that doesn’t develop until later in life is probably not an AD risk factor.

Their conclusion: people who are able to control their cholesterol and blood pressure levels throughout their lives (especially middle age) are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, even if they are genetically inclined toward the disease.

Obviously a heart-healthy diet and exercise regimen are called for here. As well as a diet that’s high in the specific antioxidant identified by a team from Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

The JH researchers wanted to determine if there was an association with the antioxidant vitamins E and C and the risk of Alzheimer’s. They studied the dietary and vitamin supplement records of 579 volunteers, aged 60 or older, for a period of more than 7 years.

After adjusting for sex, education, and age (all factors that come into play with AD risk), a diet that that was high in vitamin E intake was strongly associated with a significant reduction of Alzheimer’s risk. Intake of vitamin C, however, while useful in reducing AD risk, was not nearly as effective as vitamin E.

Stay active!

And the news gets even better. You have to love a study that concludes that drinking a little bit of coffee and wine is good for you. That’s what the researchers at Laval University Geriatric Research Unit in Quebec City, Canada, tell us as part of a prospective analysis from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging.

At the beginning of the study, the Canadian team evaluated almost 6,500 cognitively normal subjects aged 65 and over, using a risk factor screening and a neuropsychological evaluation. Five years later the same group was evaluated again with the same screening process.

The researchers concluded that a significantly reduced risk of AD was related to regular physical activity and exercise as well as the moderate consumption of wine and coffee. The use of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) was also associated with reduced risk.Couple of cups of Joe

A similar conclusion about coffee was reached in a much smaller study by the Laboratory of Neurosciences in Lisbon, Portugal. The Lisbon team examined the coffee drinking habits of 54 patients with probable Alzheimer’s, against a group of 54 subjects who were cognitively normal. They used a logistic regression model to determine the caffeine intake of both groups for a period of 20 years previous to the start of their test.

The results showed a significant inverse association between the amount of coffee consumed and a risk of Alzheimer’s disease. And as soon as I saw this conclusion I wondered about the results of the University of Kuopio that showed that lower blood pressure would reduce AD risk. Doesn’t coffee raise blood pressure? The answer is, yes, it does. But I did find another study from Hopkins from this past March concluding that moderate coffee drinking (two cups or less per day) is responsible for only a very slight rise in blood pressure.

As I’ve mentioned before when talking about coffee and wine, the key to their health benefits is moderation. Amounts that exceed moderation of any beverages that affect behavior will create health problems that far outweigh any benefits reached at the moderate level.

And a quick note for those of you who love your cup of Joe: avoid percolated coffee. The Johns Hopkins team reports that brewing coffee with a paper filter removes terpenes – chemical particles that can raise cholesterol levels.

 

More to come

 

I expect that in the coming weeks we’ll see formal reports published for the more significant studies presented at this week’s conference. And I’ll be sure to pass along news of any groundbreaking trials that would give you more insight into Alzheimer’s.

In the meantime, if you haven’t yet seen the new “Let us Know” feature on the HSI web site, please take a moment to stop by and register your votes about what health issues you most want to learn about. And if there’s a topic that’s not on the voting list, you can enter any topic you like in a blank field at the bottom of the voting form.

Does your vote count? Just ask the people who told us they wanted more information about Alzheimer’s disease.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Sources:
“Apolipoprotein E4 Allele, Elevated Midlife Cholesterol and Systolic Blood Pressure are Independent Risk Factors for Late-Life Alzheimer’s Disease” International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ICADRD) Abstract
“Reduced Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease with Antioxidant Vitamin Intake: the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging” ICADRD Abstract
“Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease: a Prospective Analysis from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging” ICADRD Abstract
“Caffeine as Protective Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease” ICADRD Abstract
“Coffee Raises Blood Pressure, Though Not by Much” Johns Hopkins Press Release, 3/25/02

Copyright 1997-2002 by Institute of Health Sciences, L.L.C.

 

 

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