Q. What can you do to prevent Alzheimer's disease?

A. "If you have a family history of Alzheimer's, or simply if you are older, you may want to make a few lifestyle changes.

Mental stimulation and creative activities, regular exercise, social interaction, a healthy diet that includes fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants (the darker the better), cold-water fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, and nuts (which contain vitamin E) all can play a protective role.

Also, take care to maintain a healthy weight. In a long-term study of 1,500 adults that was presented in 2004, researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that those who were obese in middle age were twice as likely to develop dementia in later life."

– Stephen Wong, Ph.D., is chief of medical physics and director of bioinformatics at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston, Texas.

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posted at 10:39:40 PM