Prevention of Alzheimer's disease: The role of the Mediterranean diet

Abstract

Rev. Nutr., Campinas, 28(6):691-703, nov./dez., 2015 Revista de Nutrição A B S T R A C TAlzheimer's disease rates have been increasing exponentially and are now considered a 21 st century epidemic. It contributes substantially to the morbidity and mortality of older adults. Thus, Alzheimer's disease is a growing major public health concern with a profuse socioeconomic impact. In addition, the existing pharmacological agents only offer modest symptomatic relief and can neither address the progressive neurodegeneration nor cure the disease. Therefore, finding effective preventive and therapeutic measures that delay the onset or reverse the course of the disease is crucial. Several studies have shown that lifestyle factors may play a central role in reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or, at least, in delaying its clinical symptoms. Among these disease-modifying factors, healthy nutrition has drawn much attention given that it might strongly influence the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. Such healthy dietary pattern is the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet may play a protective role against age-related changes in cognitive function, pre-dementia syndromes, and dementia. Therefore, it may constitute an effective preventive strategy for Alzheimer's disease, with low costs and few side effects. Importantly, these promising preventive measures may translate into strong epidemiological health outcomes, which might lead to a significant progress in public health. An online search was conducted in PubMed in order to revise the literature concerning the association between diet and dementia, specifically, if a higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern is related to lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and to understand the possible mechanisms that may explain such association.Keywords: Alzheimer disease. Diet. Mediterranean diet. Prevention. R E S U M O I N T R O D U C T I O NSince its first description in the beginning of the XX century, Alzheimer's disease has gone from a rarely reported disorder to one of the most frequent causes of disability in older adults. Accordingly, cognitive decline and particularly Alzheimer's disease are major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Numerous studies performed in the last decades have given essential insights into the nature of Alzheimer's disease and importantly, into the magnitude of the problem. However, research on Alzheimer's disease is still an endless challenge, particularly in the area of prevention 1 .Since the times of Ancient Greece, lifestyle modifications, such as diet and exercise, can recognizably prevent or even treat several diseases, a concept that is well reflected on the well-known Hippocratic saying, "Let food be your medicine, let medicine be your food" (p.1295) 2 . Recently, many efforts have been made to describe the association between diet and cognitive function given that several studies have reported that nutrient intake and dietary practices strongly influence the...

Diet in the Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease: Current Knowledge and Future Research Requirements

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