No Alzheimer's Prevention
New Evidence that prevention will not cure Alzheimer's. Here is some news that will turn you
r head around. Just when you thought you might be doing everything right, you find out you might be wrong. This reminds me of how much cigarette smoking is condoned Europe. If you have ever been on an elevator in Italy or France you can not help but notice (and ingest) second hand smoke from the habitual smokers. Now why is that? Did Woody Allen's prediction in Sleeper come true? Are cigarettes really good for you!? And now the following.
An independent panel of experts meeting in the US concluded there is no evidence that you can prevent or slow down Alzheimer's, a progressive and fatal brain disease, even if you keep yourself active with exercise, social interaction, brain puzzles, or take fish oil, other supplements, or medication. That is exactly the opposite of what we have been told.
The National Institutes of Health determined that the value of these strategies for delaying the onset and/or reducing the severity of decline or disease hasn't been demonstrated in rigorous studies. Interestingly, the panel's assessment of the available evidence revealed that progress to understand how the onset of these conditions might be delayed or prevented is limited by inconsistent definitions of what constitutes Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline. Other factors include incomplete understanding of the natural history of the disease and limited understanding of the aging process in general. The panel recommended that the research community and clinicians collaborate to develop, test, and uniformly adopt objective measures of baseline cognitive function and changes over time.
Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Decline, Structured Abstract. April 2010. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/tp/alzcogtp.htm actually concludes:
The current research on the list of putative risk or protective factors is largely inadequate to confidently assess their association with AD or cognitive decline. Further research that addresses the limitations of existing studies is needed prior to be able to make recommendations on interventions.
But the initial ramifications may make us all rethink taking up smoking! If you have not seen it, watch Woody Allen explain it in this short video.
