The danger

Genetic predispositions to high blood pressure and cholesterol can greatly increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future.

According to the study, which was published in the journal JAMA Network Open, people who have a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure, or have a high level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, the higher the level of good cholesterol or the higher the pressure, the greater the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

This study looked at the DNA of 39,106 participants with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease who were between the ages of 72 and 83 years old, compared to 401,577 participants without any disease, between the ages of 51 and 80 years.

Obesity: increased risk by 18 percent

In May 2022, a previous study showed that a sedentary lifestyle and being overweight radically increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. In this new study, published in JAMA Neurology, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future increased by 18 percent in a person who was overweight in middle age. Physical inactivity also affects the risk of infection by 13 percent.

To achieve these results, the researchers collected data for about 378,615 people, and found that one out of 5 participants was 65 years old, which is the age that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Accordingly, all participants were questioned to see if they had any of the risk factors, especially low education, depression and smoking.

It was not surprising that obesity was the most important risk factor, followed by physical inactivity, and then low education. So, if a man suffers from these risk factors, he is at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 35 percent, compared to 30 percent for women.

In the United States, African Americans and Native Americans are at greater risk of obesity and high blood pressure.