There’s no strong evidence that anything prevents Alzheimer’s disease, but a few common-sense practices may help delay memory loss, a panel of experts said Thursday.
They include controlling high blood pressure, regular exercise and specific memory training exercises.
Outside of that, there’s no miracle cure and no surefire way to delay the loss of brain power that comes with aging, or the onset of dementia, the committee at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded.
More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and this number is expected to grow as the population ages. There’s no cure, and treatments do not work well. Drugs such as Aricept, known also as donezepil, and Namenda can reduce symptoms for a time but they do not slow the worsening of the disease.
Researchers have some hints that drugs can reduce the brain-clogging plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s but they have not shown conclusively that the drugs can help symptoms or prevent disease. Such drugs are also years away from getting on the market.
But there have been hints that some lifestyle changes might reduce the risk, or at least delay the onset of dementia.
The committee of experts looked at all the best evidence about ways to prevent memory loss and what’s called cognitive impairment — the loss of the ability to think clearly and make decisions.
Despite the explosion of online and commercial products — from supplements to memory games — that allege they can help, there’s very little out there that can be proven to slow or prevent the decline, the experts reluctantly concluded.
“At present, there are no pharmacologic or lifestyle interventions that will prevent mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease,” said Dr. Ronald Petersen, an Alzheimer’s expert at the Mayo Clinic, who was on the committee.
“All this is not new, but this review is the strongest evidence base we have,” Petersen added.
“We have all been exposed to a study here, a study there. One suggests this intervention is beneficial, the other finds it’s not. This review looked at the totality of literature over last six years and put it to most rigorous test you can imagine.”
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