Background. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. It is a degenerative, incurable and terminal disease. The increasing prevalence of AD is, among other reasons, due to population aging, which is, to a certain extent, seen worldwide. Continuous advances in health care keep increasing life expectancy. Official statistics are likely to significantly underestimate the actual prevalence of AD. Alzheimer's disease represents an important public health problem. Its aetiology is still unknown and for this reason, it is necessary to study all potential risk factors which may contribute to the development of this disease. Methods. We searched original and review articles addressing Alzheimer´s disease using key words Alzheimer's disease, epidemiology, risk factors and prevention. We found and used one hundred and four references. Conclusions. Based on epidemiological studies, genetic studies, neuroimaging methods and neuropathology research, three basic etiological hypotheses of the development of AD have been formulated: genetic, vascular and psychosocial. At present, the level of evidence is insufficient for the etiological role of other factors, such as nutrition, occupational exposure to various substances and inflammation. From the point of view of early diagnosis and application of primary or secondary prevention principles, genetic factors are the most important.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Introduction: Dementia becomes a major public health challenge in both the Czech Republic and worldwide. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Objective: We conducted two successive epidemiological projects in 2012–2015 and 2016–2019. Their aim was to study the effect of selected potential genetic, vascular and psychosocial risk factors on the development of AD by comparing their frequencies in AD patients and controls. Methods: Epidemiological case-control studies were conducted. In total, data from 2106 participants (1096 cases, 1010 controls) were analyzed. Results: Three times more females than males suffered from AD. The highest proportion of cases were those with primary education, unlike controls. There were statistically significantly more manual workers among cases than among controls. Of selected vascular risk factors, coronary heart disease was found to be statistically significantly more frequent in cases than in controls. The onset of hypertension and diabetes mellitus was earlier in controls than in cases. As for hobbies and interests, there were statistically significant differences in physical activity, reading and solving crosswords between the groups, with these activities being more common in controls. Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic neurodegenerative diseases, in particular AD, is currently increasing. Given the aging of the population, these conditions may be expected to rise in prevalence. Potential risk of AD needs to be studied, analyzed and confirmed; a detailed knowledge of the risks of AD and early detection of the pathology may therefore be very beneficial for prevention and early treatment of this condition.