A diet high in calories and fat may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease
in people who are genetically susceptible to the disorder, new research suggests.
The study found that people who consumed the most calories and fat faced double the risk of developing Alzheimer's.
The findings, which are reported in the Archives of Neurologyjournal, are the latest evidence that lifestyle factors including diet may play a role in Alzheimer's.
Some researchers believe that restricting calories may slow the aging process by reducing production of cell-damaging oxygen molecules called free radicals, formed during the body's breakdown of food. The latest study, though preliminary, suggests that for some people, calorie restriction might lower Alzheimer's risks by curbing nerve-cell death in the brain.
Lead author Dr Jose Luchsinger, an Alzheimer's researcher at Columbia University in New York, said it would be premature to recommend specific diets for reducing Alzheimer's risks.
A study published in the same journal earlier this year linked high cholesterol levels with Alzheimer's and suggested that cholesterol-lowering drugs could reduce the risk.
That research did not examine whether a low-fat diet would achieve the same results.
The new study involved 980 patients aged 75 on average in New York who were asked to recall their food intake during the first year of the four year study. They also underwent annual exams.
PA