Healthy lifestyle `can prevent Alzheimer`s disease`

London: Want to keep Alzheimer`s at bay? You need to follow a healthy lifestyle, suggest researchers.A new study, published in the `Lancet Neurology` journal, says that half of all Alzheimer`s disease cases could be prevented by lifestyle changes such as exercise, eating healthily and not smoking.

In fact, the researchers say hundreds of thousands of patients could potentially avoid the devastating illness by simply changing bad habits, the `Daily Mail` reported. They found in the West, an inactive "couch potato" lifestyle was the most important possible cause. Smoking, obesity in middle-age, high blood pressure and diabetes all increased the risk. Together, the modifiable risk factors contributed to 50 per cent of Alzheimer`s cases worldwide. The study found that not going to secondary school also made developing the disease more likely. The researchers speculate that intense studying may make the brain better equipped to cope with the symptoms. They now want to carry out more work to find out how many people can prevent the disease by making small changes to their lifestyle. PTI