Can Alzheimer's Be Stopped? Five Lifestyle Behaviors Are Key, New Research Suggests

New studies suggest that the likelihood of an older adult developing Alzheimer's or dementia may decrease with a healthy lifestyle, according to NBC News . Researchers from Rush University in Chicago analyzed data from almost 3,000 adults and assessed their lifestyles based on five healthy behaviors: not smoking, regularly exercising, eating a brain-friendly diet, limiting alcohol consumption, and engaging in late-life cognitive activities. The researchers found that the risk of Alzheimer's was 37 percent lower in adults who practiced two or three of the healthy behaviors, and 60 percent lower in adults who practiced four or five. A study out of the United Kingdom found that a healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer's even in people with high genetic risk scores. And a study conducted by the University of California at San Francisco found that smokers were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's as non-smokers or former smokers. "This reinforces the notion that some of these lifestyle factors may actually affect the trajectory of cognitive aging and the development of dementia," said Dr. Ronald Petersen, who is the director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and who was not affiliated with any of the studies.